No Evidence Equals No Crime
by theothergirl13
Summary: When eight students find themselves in a compromising situation, they find they have to rely on each other. Pacts are made, lines are crossed, and secrets are revealed bringing them closer together to find out what really happened. With everyone having something to lose, can they really trust each other or is it just every man for himself? Mortal AU. Don't own PJO
1. Chapter 1

"Oh gods." Annabeth heard Frank muttered somewhere behind her, but she felt herself reeling as she stared down at the body beneath them. Their teacher laid sprawled out head bent slightly at the neck, a pool of blood rushing out of it.

Calypso bent down trying to take his pulse, but it was pretty clear he was gone. His gold eyes were staring blankly towards the sky, his face frozen in horror and shock. Calypso finally stood up her two fingers caked in blood as she shook her head.

"Oh gods." Frank muttered again.

Somewhere next to her she could feel Hazel retching in the trashcan, but Annabeth couldn't even make herself feel disgusted. For the first time in her life, she couldn't think straight. Everything had happened so fast; it was a blur. Even as she tried to replay it in her mind to make sense of it all, she couldn't. All she knew she knew was the end result, which was the one thing she didn't want to know.

She glanced up to find a fight breaking out between Percy and Piper. Annabeth tried to focus as Percy yanked the phone from her hands and smashed it on the concrete.

"We can't call the cops! Do you want to go to jail?" He asked her, his glower darkening.

"We can say it was self-defense! They'll let us off." Piper cried out in desperation her lower lip trembled.

"No they won't! Look at him Piper; he's dead! We killed him." Piper glanced down at their now deceased teacher and broke out in sobs.

"We have to get rid of him." Percy said, Annabeth was slightly worried about how calm he was about this all, but she was more grateful at least one of them was thinking straight.

"Oh no, no! No! Not calling the cops is one thing, but this!" Piper exclaimed, black mascara streaks running down her face. No one bothered to tell her that.

"We can't leave him here!" Percy glared at the girl.

"If we leave no evidence there was no crime right?" Calypso spoke this time, as she scanned the parking lot looking for danger.

Piper glared at the girl so hard, Annabeth thought she was going to pounce. Hazel sat on the sidewalk curb next to Piper, but she looked like she was going to be sick again.

"No! You two are crazy! I refuse to be a part of this, I'm going to the station." Piper declared standing up, but Jason grabbed her wrist.

"Let me go! I swear Jason!" But Jason wasn't the star athlete at the school for nothing. Jason had an iron grip, even without trying, so Piper was going anywhere.

"They're right." Jason's voice was grim as he glanced down at body, his expression matching his voice. "No evidence, no crime."

"You're crazy!" Piper yelled, her green eyes glaring up at the six foot three blonde.

"Piper…calm down." Calypso said smoothly.

"Calm down! You want me to calm down! We just committed murder!" She yelled, before Jason clamped his hand over her mouth, muffling what she was saying.

"Leo, you got any duck tape?"

Annabeth had forgotten the boy was even there, which was very unusual since he was always cracking jokes or playing pranks, however he looked nowhere in the laughing mood. In fact he seemed almost angry, as he glared upon their teacher.

He turned to where Jason was holding Piper and his gaze softened up a little. He seemed to have a silent argument with his sister, before he won. Jason noticed it too as he promptly let go of her. Thankfully, she didn't make a run for it.

"Fine, so how do we get rid of him without any evidence?" She said, arms crossed over her chest.

"We burn him." Annabeth said finding her voice. All heads turned to her as she spoke. "Fire, will destroy all DNA traces and reduce him to ash, therefore no one should be able to find him." Annabeth said her brain finally clicking on. She tried to think of a plan, which wasn't too hard, if she didn't think about what exactly she was covering up.

"Calypso, Piper, Jason, wash the blood off the pavement, try not to get any on you. Leo…" Annabeth turned to the prankster, who seemed to be fiddling with his hands.

"Can you hack into the system? I need you to delete all the video footage of us."

"Aye Aye, Captain." He saluted.

"Frank, Hazel, Percy and I will go to the dump and…" Annabeth trailed off, but nobody needed an explanation.

"Jason, Frank, let me see your blazers" Annabeth order, her voice taking on something even she didn't recognize. Frank automatically shrugged his off, while Jason was weary, but she had no other option.

Annabeth knelt down and tried to wrap Mr. K's head so the blood wouldn't drip when they carried him to the car. She nodded trying not to think about what she was doing.

"As long as everyone does this, they shouldn't come after us. Everything will go back to normal."

Even though she said that, Annabeth highly doubted that, but she knew she couldn't say that, not if she wanted the plan to go flawlessly. They were scared, heck she was scared, but there was no way out of this. If anyone found out, they would all be hauled to jail, and Annabeth was so close to graduation and college, she refused to let anything stop her. Not even a dead teacher she had just murdered.


	2. Chapter 2

As Annabeth watched as Percy and Frank lifted their teacher from the ground as they shuffled across the parking lot to Frank's BMW, Jason came over to talk to her in private, while the others had disappeared inside the school to either the office or to find cleaning supplies. Jason was running a hand through his cropped hair, his piercing blue eyes staring intently down on her, something that irritated her since he was younger than her.

"You sure about this Annabeth? I mean I know there aren't many options, but can we really trust them?"

Annabeth gazed towards the building where Calypso, Piper, and Leo had disappeared. Then where Percy and Frank stood trying to shove and angle the body into the black BMW, while Hazel stood trying to give directions to the two, but looked more like she was trying not to throw up again. She knew none of them personally and of the few conversations she had with them were brief and full of small talk. Now she was going to have to trust them with this huge ordeal. Just the thought of it alone, made Annabeth want to call off the plan and have the police sort it out.

She might have if she were alone, but she had her reputation to uphold and of course Jason. If anything she was closest to him, since of course she was his sister's best friend, making him sort of like her brother. If worse came to worse, at least they had each others back. Annabeth just hoped it didn't have to come down to that. She hoped they all filled out the end of their bargain or they would all be screwed.

Piper and Calypso came out of the tower, each carrying two large buckets. Piper seemed to be griping to the other girl, much to Calypso's irritation that etched into her flawless face.

"Annabeth!" Percy called her name after closing the trunk, beckoning her over to them.

"Look we're just going to have to trust them ok?" She whispered, as a silent understanding passed between the two of them. Jason just sighed, but waved her off, as he rushed towards the girls, who looked like they were about to get into an altercation.

Annabeth hoped they worked it out, but that wasn't her main concern as she climbed in to the car. Frank was too shaken up to drive, so Percy sat in the driver's seat, while Annabeth sat shotgun and Hazel and Frank sat in the back. Annabeth tried not to think of the body in the trunk, but the smell of blood clogged her nose.

Percy pulled off the school parking lot and onto the road. For a second, Annabeth imagined she was on a nice drive to the lake to watch the sun that was just starting to set, but she knew that she would never do that. Especially with Percy Jackson.

Annabeth glanced at the boy beside her and fought not to roll her eyes. She and him had never gotten along, the pristine princess to the troublesome rebel. He was always in detention and was labeled a slacker even in kindergarten. It irritated Annabeth to no end that he had grown attractive though. At six foot, with the sea blown black hair and green eyes and black leather jacket and motorcycle he had the bad boy thing nailed down, making him the target for many girls with the bad boy fetish. However, it was Calypso, of all girls, that snagged him and surprisingly kept him, but they were a story in itself.

No, Annabeth wasn't irritated because she liked him, but because he was a jerk to everyone, and yet people still acted like he was part god or something. People parted in the hallways for him, did his homework for him, even took his shift at his job despite they didn't even work there, he was like the real life version of Tom Sawyer.

"What?" He asked looking towards her, his black eyebrows furrowed as he searched for a radio station. Annabeth felt herself shake her head, turning her head towards the front.

"Bet you didn't plan for this princess." Percy's voice came from beside her. Annabeth jerked her head towards him, her blonde hair almost smacking her in the face. He smirked at her, eyes brightened in amusement as he glanced at her.

Annabeth only rolled her eyes before, turning back to the road, her eyes widening as Percy sped up to run the light.

"What the hell?" She found herself yelling. "Are you trying to get us killed?"

"Relax, just trying to get there faster." He told her as he kept one hand on the wheel and the other still flipping through channels.

"Apparently, you don't care if we get there alive or not." She muttered as she crossed her arms.

"We've already got one body, doubt there'd be a problem if there were two." Percy said cheekily to her. Annabeth had to fight the bile that rose in her throat as she glanced towards the street trying to ignore the morbid jokes Percy threw her way.

"What do you call four kids going to burn a body?" Percy said grinning, glancing her way and to the rearview mirror at Hazel and Frank.

"Anyone? Anyone?"

"Will you stop? This isn't a joke!" Annabeth finally snapped at him. Percy stopped the car and looked at her like she had dropped just from space. He just shook his head before opening the door and getting out.

"Where are you going?" Annabeth asked as she unbuckled her seatbelt. Percy only rolled his eyes, glancing at the convenience store he stopped next to.

"Going to get some lighter fluid, be right back." He said as he grinned and winked at her. Annabeth watched as she disappeared into the Speedy Mart. As soon as he left Hazel burst into tears, sobbing into her hands.

"We're going to jail." Annabeth heard her mutter to herself. Annabeth knew the feeling she wanted to just burst into tears herself, but she refused to break down in front of them. Annabeth knew it was worse for Hazel as a sophomore, she still had two more years to go and before she could escape. Plus with all the rumors that circulated around her, Annabeth knew this was like the nail in the coffin, it was for all of them. That's why they had to make sure this never got out.

Annabeth glanced around at the gas station. There were only two other cars at the pumps. One was an older gentleman who was whistling while he stood casually, one hand at the pump. There was a lady, but she was turned opposite from them, so Annabeth only knew she had long blonde hair, as she pumped gas in her convertible silver Mercedes.

Annabeth glanced down at the clock and noticed Percy had been gone for seventeen minutes. For a second, Annabeth panicked thinking he had ratted them out. Annabeth knew Percy didn't have much to lose. However, Percy came out strolling and carrying two white plastic bags.

"Took you long enough." Annabeth retorted as he started the car, he only rolled his eyes at her before taking off. Annabeth rummaged through the bags the first one indeed carried four bottles of lighter fluid. The second one however there were two bottles, one of vodka and the other whiskey.

"Really?" She asked exasperated, like carrying a dead body wasn't enough. It would be their luck to be pulled over for minors in possession, and then the police search their whole car. Percy however looked her straight in the eye with the first grave expression she had seen him shed that day.

"Trust me, we'll need it."

In thirty minutes they arrived at the Boston dump and if Annabeth wanted to find a smell worse than blood, she knew she'd find it here. Piles and piles of trash were compounded together, making it smell worse than the time she had gotten stuck in a packed elevator last summer in California for six hours.

"Oh gods, this is awful." Frank said pinching his nose. Hazel looked green again as she inspected the mountain of garbage next to her.

"What is that?" She asked covering her mouth and nose with her white shirt as she pointed to something in the trash. Annabeth felt the tears swell in her eyes as she covered her own nose with her cardigan.

"Doesn't matter, let's just get this over with." Annabeth stated as she looked for a spot that wouldn't be too suspicious. She found a small cloven hidden in between piles of trash that would be hard to spot unless someone was actively looking for it.

"Right here guys." She yelled.

Soon enough, Percy and Frank carried their teacher to the spot. It seemed cruel that he fit perfectly. Frank unwrapped the head, taking back his and Jason's jackets. Mr. K's expression was still the same from when he first fell. Hazel came back carrying both bags from the convenience store.

Percy took the lighter fluid and started drizzling it up and down the body, soaking Mr. K's dress pants and blue shirt. Although, Mr. K wasn't Annabeth's favorite teacher, she was still hoping he would blink his gold eyes and smile in that creepy way of his and yell: _Just Kidding!_

But that didn't happen, even after Percy dumped the last bit of the fluid. For a long time they all stood staring at the body, the teacher's neck snapped, coated in blood. All of this was just a huge misunderstanding, but despite that no one could reverse it this no matter how hard they tried.

"Alright, I guess I'll do it." Frank said stepping up, his six foot one frame and broad shoulders seemed to get bigger in the last of the sunset. Frank took a swig of the Jack Daniels, before striking the match Percy handed to him.

"Goodbye, Mr. Kronos." The air seemed to whisper as they watched Frank dropped the match.

They stood drinking whiskey and vodka as they watched the flames burn bright through the dark night. Annabeth at first had refused, she had promised herself that she would never drink after the incident with Luke, but with something like this she'd give herself an exception.

The vodka made her feel lighter and she felt herself feeling untroubled with every swig, so she was disappointed when they ran out. However she kept her buzz going as they all talked about different things at school, forcing the conversation to stay light.

Frank shared about his acceptance and signing to Harvard to double major in biology and Latin. Annabeth shared about Cornell and it's architect program. Hazel said she was looking at Yale University, but was worried about her SATs scores that were supposed to come in sometime next month. Annabeth noted that Percy seemed to go quiet about this, but she decided not to bring it up.

"We should go." Percy stated, glancing at the dying flames. They all nodded piling back into the car. Percy had to drive again since Frank was too drunk and he was the most sober out of all of them. Part of Annabeth knew Percy shouldn't drive, even if he didn't drink much, but she was too giggly to give the thought a second one.

Once they were on the road, Annabeth promptly fell asleep and didn't wake up until she felt someone poking her sides. Annabeth turned to find Percy staring at her and gesturing her to get out.

Annabeth obliged, however when she first stood up she felt sick but she forced it back down. They were in the school parking lot. It was dark except for the lamps that created pools of light. Annabeth looked around to see Jason's blue Audi R8 gone, along with Piper's black Benz SL Class gone and Leo's gold one-77 Aston Martin, and Annabeth guess Calypso found a ride or walked home because she was gone as well.

The only car that sat in the lot was her grey Panamera Porsche and Percy's green Yamaha motorcycle. Frank stood by Hazel asking if she wanted a ride since it was dark, but the girl quickly declined, as her black Rolls Royce Wraith seemed to emerge from the shadows of the lot her pale driver getting out and opening the door for her. Hazel waved as she got in the vehicle before it vanished into the shadows of the night. Frank quickly left afterwards, leaving Percy and Annabeth.

Annabeth stumbled to her car, fumbling for her keys in her coat pocket. Her head was pounding and she fought back the vomit she was sure coming up.

"You ok?" Percy yelled as he made a move to go towards her, but Annabeth waved him off. Annabeth didn't want to rely on him more than she already had. Annabeth opened the door, and practically threw herself in her tan leather driver seat and started the car.

Thank god Annabeth knew the way to her uncle's home backwards and forwards, or else she didn't know what would have happened. Her mind was swirling and aching, her vision was fading in and out, which was an indication that Annabeth probably should have stopped driving, but she just wanted to be home and as far as way as possible.

Her subconscious seemed to keep playing the scene over and over. She could smell the burning flesh as if she was still at the dump. She felt the tears starting to well over, but she held them back.

_You're a murderer. You're a vile and disgusting murderer. _

She shook the thought out of her head, trying to convince herself that what she was doing was the right thing. She was looking out for not only her future, but also seven other people. That had to count for something, right?

_You're still a murderer. _

"Shut up." She muttered to herself, which made her seem crazy even to herself. Annabeth exhaled and decided to focus on driving. By some miracle she got home safely, and somehow she found herself pulling up to the white estate. Annabeth parked her car next to her uncle's Bentley. Getting out she walked to the crystal front door, feet crunching the gravel under her. The noise seemed to soothe her.

She continued up the white stairs and pushed through the door, finding herself in the foyer. She felt dizzy and disoriented with all the white walls and brightness. She found herself clutching the ebony stair rail as she dragged up the stairs.

"Annabeth? Is that you?" Her uncle called. Annabeth turned as her uncle came around the corner a bagel in his hands.

"Hey, I thought you were sleeping at Reyna's, is everything alright?" His gray eyebrows knitted in concern, pale blue eyes shining up at her. Annabeth wanted to scream, _No! Everything's complete shit!_

But she held it in, instead replying, "I just wanted to come home, it's been a long day."

Her uncle gazed at her, blue eyes meeting her greys, but Annabeth didn't squirm. If one thing her uncle could do was sniff out a bluff, like a hound. If he felt something he didn't say anything else about it, as he wondered back into the kitchen.

_Great, you're a murderer and a liar._

Annabeth shrugged her own comment off as she trudged to her room. Once she got there she threw herself on her bed not bothering to change. She was tired, physically mentally, and emotionally. All she wanted was to sleep and to wake up and the whole situation to be nothing but a mind trick.

She felt the waterworks coming up and for the first time she didn't try to stop them. The horrible thing she had just witness, had partaken in. What kind of person did that? Annabeth sobbed for what felt like hours before she promptly fell asleep, wondering how this all exactly happened.


	3. Chapter 3

Hazel was officially over Weston, Massachusetts. She hated the people, the landscape, and the wealth. When Hazel had first moved to Weston, last summer, she was in awe; she had never seen such a wealthy town. It was a small town only seventeen square miles with only about two thousand families living there. It was like a whole other world. Everyone drove a luxury car and owned at least one estate, and everyone had housemaids and personal chefs. The landscape was beautiful all year, whether it was summer and the air smelt like freshly cut grass and people sailed the crystal blue lake or winter when it looked like and icy wonderland. It was like they had paid mother nature off, to keep their small town pristine and polished.

Although, despite how wealthy Weston was Hazel quickly found out that wealth came with a price. Her first part of freshman year was proof of that. Hazel saw how the others treated each other already with Hazel being an outsider she was the target of a lot of bullying. Her half-brother, Nico, tried to help really, but he couldn't do much since he attended St. Bernard's for The Talented and Gifted, while she attended The Cambridge School of Weston.

Although the slogan, was "_Truthe and Gentil Deeds" _Hazel was sure none of those students believed that. They were mostly bullies and did so much illegal drugs, Hazel was sure that they should be dead. They were reckless and careless people, spending their parents' money on unnecessary whims. One day before Christmas Break, when Nico had came to pick her up from school, her bullies had egged him screaming at him to go kill himself and that the world would be better without him.

Hazel was so angry she marched straight up to Dylan and punched him, knocking him smooth out. Of course it was Hazel who'd gotten expelled, but it was worth it. Hazel knew that her brother was could take care of himself, but it was only two days since he had come out to the world, which he still wasn't comfortable with. Hazel nonetheless thought it was the bravest thing and she would proudly defend her brother.

Thankfully, during break her acceptance to St. Bernard's also known as Mt. Olympus came through. She was excited to start and for a while it got better, and Hazel figured out why it was nicknamed Mt. Olympus. They only took a hundred of every class from Cambridge. The application was long and tedious, but it was well worth it. The students there were the crème of the crème. Not only were the students wealthiest of Weston, but most of them were smart without drug use and were very forgiving when Hazel bothered them.

However, as soon as it seemed things were looking up they took a turn for the worse. A month before school let out for summer, Nico went missing due to bullying. Although, it wasn't said openly, people started to think she had something to do with it, thus they steered clear of her.

Although, Hazel and her father knew exactly where Nico was, he begged them not to tell anyone until he got better. So, Hazel continued to endure her shunning in silence.

Speaking of her brother she was late. She hurriedly threw her homework in her satchel before running down the stairs two at a time. Even though it was only six in the morning on a Wednesday, Hazel was still excited because today was the first day in weeks that she'd see her brother. She had been swamped with homework lately, that she had to settle for phone calls and _Facetime_, but it still wasn't the same.

Hazel rushed through the dark estate, trying to find the front door. Her father and Nico liked to keep the mansion dark, making it hard to navigate especially in the morning. So it took Hazel ten minutes of wondering around and backtracking before finding the door.

First, Hazel rummage through her tan leather satchel ripping a piece of paper out a notebook and finding a pen, quickly she wrote an explanation to her father in case he wondered where she went. Hazel wondered if he ever read them or if the housekeepers came and threw it away, either way when Hazel came home from school it was gone from the banister.

Hazel placed the note on the banister before heading outside. Outside, her driver Jules Albert stood waiting for her, his pale skin looking almost porcelain in the light of the sunrise.

"Miss Levesque." He said as he opened up the door to the Royce. Hazel didn't have the heart to keep telling him to only call her Hazel, so she just climbed into the car. Jules Albert knew where they were going, since Hazel didn't go many places than besides home, school, and the Beacon House, and the other place she did go he couldn't possibly know since she never asked him to take her there.

When Hazel had first acquired Jules Albert from Nico, since technically he was Nico's driver (courtesy of their father), she quickly found out that he wasn't much of a talker, so they sat in silence except for the jazz coming from the radio.

On the ride there Hazel thought about her past life in New Orleans with her mom and Sammy. She lived there in a two- bed one -bath apartment above a jazz club with her mom. Her mother was a singer at the club as Queen Marie and sometimes at night Hazel would lie awake in bed listening to her mother's voice melt in her ears.

Although it was evident her mother could sing, it was rare that she sang to Hazel. In fact, her mother was quite stern always chastising Hazel about manners and carrying herself like a lady. It irritated Hazel to no end when she was in middle school, when all of the other girls wore shorts and tank tops while Hazel was forced to wear stockings and dresses. The girls laughed at her, the boys wouldn't look in her direction.

The only person who didn't mind was her best friend Sammy, but that was because Sammy was an outsider too. Likewise in middle school, Sammy was mocked, due to him being bad at sports and very short and scrawny. Hazel didn't mind though; he knew how to crack her up to tears and was as fiercely loyal as anyone could get.

They had a ball together, but as all things go in Hazel's life it turned tragic. Katrina hit washing away lots of buildings including her and Sammy's home. Along with her home, Hazel's mom, Queen Marie, was washed away too leaving her to be a homeless orphan. Sammy's folks offered her to move with them to Houston, but Hazel knew they already had a lot of people in their family, so she didn't want to add an extra burden.

Whether by luck or some high force from above Hazel found her birth certificate when she was searching through the wreckage and was able to track down her father. On top of her birth certificate she found enough money to catch a one-way bus trip to Boston. From there she walked twelve miles in the pouring rain to show up at her father's doorstep, completely soaked and determined. If not for the situation Hazel would have laughed at the baffled expressions both Nico and her father wore when she explained her circumstances.

Surprisingly, they both took her in; someone they hadn't known had existed until hours ago. Hazel was eternally grateful for that, she didn't know what she would have done if they had turned her away.

Hazel felt indebted to them, especially after she learned of the passing of Nico's mother during his birth and that his sister had passed away in a car accident only a year ago. She knew it probably wasn't easy for Nico to accept having another sister after he lost his real one. That's why Hazel did everything in her power to make sure he knew how much she cared, such as waking up at five thirty to go see him.

The Beacon House wasn't too far out from Weston just located on the outskirts of it. Usually it took Hazel only thirty minutes to get there, but she drove through Boston to pick up an _Egg McMuffin_ to smuggle in for Nico. She wasn't supposed to bring outside food in, especially something so unhealthy and she was probably going to hear about it tomorrow. However, she knew that they made Nico happy, so she was happy to oblige.

The Beacon House was ironically named as it was more of a mansion. It was traditionally styled and complete with red brick on the outside. There were huge black gates that surrounded it and had a long stone driveway to its brown door.

When Hazel arrived the gates opened automatically, she wasn't sure if it was a good thing they automatically recognized her car. As Jules Albert pulled next to the front door, she stuffed the breakfast sandwich in her bag before he helped her out.

"I'll be about an hour." She told him, he only nodded. Hazel briefly wondered what he did in the car when he waited for her. She shook the thought out of her head; she didn't want to know. She went through the security line, quickly saying hi to some of the guards before marching upstairs to the third floor.

Some people were milling around when she got to the floor. The nurse at the desk, Melissa, nodded towards her before turning her attention back to the computer. The third floor was the most open of all the floors, and it reminded Hazel of a children's hospital. There were glass rooms designated for group therapy and even a lounge room with a TV, _Xbox, _and computers.

Hazel passed the glass rooms going farther down the hall to the residential rooms. Nico's room was the farthest down the hall and by far the least decorated. His door only had his name in black sharpie on the white board and nothing else.

Hazel knocked on the door, before hearing a gruff come in. Hazel opened the door to find her brother awake and glaring as his doctor, as Will tried to coax him into eating breakfast.

"Should I come back later?" Hazel asked. Will and Nico looked over to her, both of their eyes softening.

"I give you guys some time." Will told her as he pushed his curly blonde hair out of his face. He turned towards Nico, "I expect for all of that food to be eaten when I come back." He said, while Nico rolled his eyes and flicked him off.

Will for his credit ignored it and strode towards the door before shutting it softly.

"That wasn't very nice Nico." Hazel said staring her brother down as she strode and sat on his bed. He only rolled his black eyes before, mumbling "Well, it's not nice to wake people up at the crack of dawn and shove food down their throat either."

Hazel only glared at him. Hazel despite loving her brother, he was very stubborn and sometimes came off rude, something Hazel would not stand for. Finally he gave up and blushed muttering a sheepish apology.

"And when I leave, you have to apologize to Will too." Nico only rolled his eyes before muttering fine. Hazel fished out the McDonald's sandwich from her bag and gave it to her brother.

"Hazel, you are a saint." He told her, before starting to devour the sandwich. Hazel only shook her head and tried not to giggle as she watched him eat. "I don't know how you eat that stuff."

"Because it's delicious." He said after swallowing a bite. Hazel only rolled her eyes at him, which he promptly stuck his tongue out. Hazel noticed that her brother was in a good mood again today, making her feel hopeful he would get out soon.

He finished his sandwich quickly before trying to shoot it in the trashcan next to his desk, across the room. Needless to say, he missed. He only shrugged before focusing back on her.

"So, how have you been? How's school?"

"Nothing's changed. School is school. I'm just glad that the year is almost over." Hazel answered. Hazel had mixed feelings of the summer to come. Sure school was over, but she would be bored with no one to hang out with. She tried not to linger on that.

"What about you? How are you? What's going on here?" She asked.

"Same as you, nothing much. Will is driving me insane and no Hazel I don't like him." He said huffing. Hazel only smiled at him knowingly. Ever since Will came to intern at the Beacon House, Nico complained about him constantly. Hazel was pretty sure he was only covering up the fact that he liked him, but she didn't want to push him.

"Okay, well since you don't like Will, quote on quote, you can come home soon right?" Hazel asked hopefully, as she grabbed his pale hand. It was so cold despite the room temperature.

"I don't know, Haze."

"But you're getting better. You stopped cutting, you're eating. Plus no one cares anymore, everyone who bullied you graduated or got kicked out." Hazel started. Nico cut her off with a hand squeeze.

"It's not that simple Hazel. Besides, father may not even want me back." Nico looked down causing his black hair to fall over his pale face.

"You know that's not true!"

"He's ashamed of me, Hazel. He doesn't want me." Hazel opened her mouth to debate it, but Nico cut her off with a harsh look. "He doesn't visit me or even call me. When I went home during Christmas he barely uttered three words to me." Nico's gaze softened, as Hazel felt her heart go out to her brother. Nico let go of her hand as he traced the red scars on his almost white arm.

"It's ok, Hazel. I've accepted it."

Hazel only shook her head at him. Hazel told him about the night she had seen him on the couch staring forlornly at a Di Angelo's family picture.

"You know father's never been good at showing his feelings. He loves you Nico, I think he's just scared to talk to you." She tried to explain.

"Scared." Nico scoffed at her. "Runs one of the biggest funeral companies, yet he's scared to talk to his own son. Yeah, right."

"Nico, you tried to kill yourself." Hazel reminded him slowly. Hazel felt herself starting to choke up, as she remembered coming home that one day.

"And you would think that would be an incentive or a clue for him to come talk to me! But no what does he do, he runs away!"

"So, you did it for attention?" Hazel asked.

"No, Hazel."

"Then why did you do it?"

She tried to block out the picture, but it came anyway. She saw her brother and a bottle of pills laid out on his bathroom floor knocked out and barely breathing. If it was possible he was paler than before, and so skinny due to him not eating for weeks. After her father ordered her to call the paramedics, she came back to find his sleeves pulled back to find red slash marks up and down his arm.

She couldn't help it but she burst into tears, sobbing as she replayed the panic in her mind. She felt so helpless as her father and her waited in the hospital. She couldn't believe how she didn't notice, she felt awful and even worse that he felt like he couldn't confide in her.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why couldn't you just tell me something was wrong? If you left, I-I don't know what I would have done, Nico. I would have been alone. Without you I have no family left." Hazel blubbered, as the tears rushed down her cheeks. She didn't know how much of that he heard, but he just hugged her and mumbled apologies.

A part of Hazel knew what she was doing was selfish. Obviously this wasn't about her, Nico was the one who needed help and the shoulder to cry on. But Hazel couldn't help it; it was the first time she had fully cried in front of him after the incident. She wanted him to know how hurt she was, how much she cared for him, even if she was only his half-sister.

After awhile she stopped sobbing in hysteria and went into a more silent crying. Nico sat hugging her, which for the record was the longest she had touched her brother. Finally after some time he said, "I'm sorry, Hazel. I was so wrapped up in my anger and pain with Luke and Bi-Bianca, I forgot about you and father. I didn't take the time to realize how much this would hurt you and how much you cared. I'm sorry."

Hazel looked up to see her brother's dark eyes staring down at her in sincerity. Hazel felt a knot of resentment unravel in her stomach, one that she didn't know she had even been harboring. She hadn't even known she wanted an apology, but now that she got one she felt ten times better.

Nico wiped her left over tears off her face, his ice skin almost making her flinch. Nico leaned back on the wood headboard as he let go of her. Hazel wiped her face, although she was sure that she would still have red eyes until the end of the day.

"I'm sorry to have exploded on you like that. It's just it's hard not having you around." Hazel uttered. On weekends, she was so lonely. Her father was more of a ghost and Hazel wondered sometimes if he even noticed that she lived there. She again had no friends, so she mainly spent her weekends with Nico at the house or at the stables, but it still wasn't the same.

"Hazel, I thought you were making friends." Nico started in his concerned voice. Hazel knew where this conversation was going, but she was going to stop it.

"I am; it's just hard. The kids here are so different." Hazel defended. In truth, Hazel wasn't trying to make friends. After everything she had been through, she was pretty used to not having many friends.

"Why don't you talk to Jason? He'll understand." Nico suggested.

Hazel only rolled her eyes at the suggestion. She was not low enough to beg for friendship, especially not Jason Grace's. Even though, Nico thought highly of Jason, she differed. The All-American boy had gone to the bottom of the list, when he had jumped on the bandwagon to slander Nico and shun Hazel. No, Hazel refused to talk him.

"Hazel…" Nico sighed as he looked at her.

"He publicly said that you weren't mentally stable Nico! He said that he could never trust you!" Hazel told him.

"He was right, Hazel. Look, he's a good guy. He's just pressured to say those things, everyone did find it odd that we were best friends in the first place." Hazel only rolled her eyes. She didn't care what the circumstances were, she was sure that a best friend wasn't supposed to say that.

She opened her mouth to argue when Will stepped through the door. His blue eyes darted to both of them before landing on Hazel.

"Uh, Hazel it's almost eight, shouldn't you get going?"

Hazel mentally cursed, before standing up and smoothing out her navy skirt. She glanced at her phone, to find that Will was right. As she swung her bag over her head she heard something flop on the ground, but Will interrupted before she got a chance to see what it was.

"Hazel, can you please stop feeding your brother McDonald's? Am I going to have to start taking your visiting hours away?" He said as he glanced towards the trashcan, where the yellow wrapping paper sat.

"Maybe if you didn't feed me crap food Solace, then she wouldn't have to." Nico answered arms crossed as he glared defiantly at Will. Hazel didn't want to stick around for another fully blown argument, so she quickly kissed her brother on the cheek before exiting.

As she ran down the hall, she heard Will call out for her, "Wait, Hazel you forgot your paper." Hazel muttered thanks to him. She had worked twelve hours on her history paper. It would have been tragic if she had forgotten it there.

Hurrying she ran to the car, where Jules Albert was patiently waiting for her. He opened the door for her as she rushed to get in clutching her paper in her hand. Jules Albert got in as he slowly took off towards Mt. Olympus.

"Can you go any faster?" Hazel asked as she sat in the morning hour traffic going towards Boston. Jules Albert only shook his head. Hazel glanced at her watch to see it was already eight eleven. Great she was tardy again. Ms. Lupa was going to have her head.

Finally at eight twenty eight, she rolled up to front of Mt. Olympus. Hazel didn't even wait for Jules Albert to open the door as she sprinted through the open gate and under the Tower's archway. Hazel sprinted across the great lawn towards the Hermes Building, which unfortunately was on the opposite side of the parking lot. She imagined her mother would be mortified if she saw Hazel running in a skirt and stockings, but Hazel pushed the thought out of her mind, she had other things to worry about. Thankfully, no one was out, making a clear path for her dash.

Evidently Hazel spoke too soon, as she rounded the corner and collided right into someone. They both fell and both of their papers scatter across the concrete.

"Ow." The voice complained.

"Sorry." Hazel muttered sheepishly. Hazel and the girl both reached for their papers, before standing. Hazel recognized the girl. It was Piper McLean, the queen bee. Hazel glanced at the girl. She wore a yellow cardigan over her navy dress, and had a thin yellow belt on, and nude and yellow pumps, and of course the diamond headband.

"Do you mind?" Said girl asked, while glaring down at her. Hazel tried to form a coherent response, but she froze. Piper only pushed her out the way and went by, her heels click-clacking away.

Hazel didn't have time to reflect on that, but instead started sprinting on towards class. Hazel didn't even think to stop and fix herself before she burst into class. All eyes turned to her, while Ms. Lupa's grey wolf eyes bore into her.

"Miss Levesque, how nice for you to show up. Are you aware that you are thirty seven minutes late to my class?"

"Sorry, Ms. Lupa it won't happen again." Hazel told her gulping under her gaze. She heard some kids snicker at her misfortune.

"It better not happen again, Miss Levesque. This is my last warning. Now hand me your paper and take your seat."

Hazel let out a sigh before shuffling towards the back. Just as she passed the middle row, she heard a scoff from the front.

"Miss Levesque is this some kind of joke?" Hazel turned around to see Ms. Lupa's grey eyes glaring at her as she held out her paper.

"Ma'am?" She asked stunned. Ms. Lupa got up from the position on her desk and smoothed out her grey dress before marching towards her.

"If you are going to cheat, you could at least change the words, or for heavens sake change name." She told her. Hazel was confused. She didn't know what was wrong with her paper.

"I'm sorry. What's wrong with my paper?" She asked panicked. She was sure she had done everything right. Ms. Lupa handed back the paper. Hazel looked down to find, Piper McLean's paper in her hands and not just any paper, but the same one she did for Ms. Lupa's class a year ago.

"Ms. Lupa, this isn't my paper. Piper and I collided, she has my real one." Hazel pleaded. Hazel went on trying to explain what happened this morning, as Ms. Lupa strode back to her desk.

"Miss Levesque, do you think my class is a joke to you?" She asked her eyebrows raised.

"No ma'am. I-" But Hazel stopped as Ms. Lupa raised her pale boney hand to cut her off.

"It seems like it is, you're late to my class almost everyday and hand me a paper and think I won't notice isn't yours."

"But-"

"My class may seem like a joke to you or a waste of time, but it's not for these other students and to me. So, I'm going to kindly ask you to leave, and don't come back until your done wasting our time."

"But Ms. Lupa, I did my paper! Piper has it!" She begged.

"That's it Miss Levesque! I will not tolerate being lied to! Out! And take this detention with you!" Ms. Lupa yelled as she stood up, eyes blazing on her.

Hazel felt the eyes of the students on her and she felt so embarrassed and frustrated she wanted to cry. She knew better not to cry in front of these people, so she quietly shuffled out of the room taking the detention slip with her.

Hazel fought the tears as she went through the first half of the day. She didn't see Piper anywhere to ask for her paper back, but she figured the girl would be in courtyard like always during lunch-time so she could ask for it then.

True to Hazel's knowledge at lunch Piper and her minions sat in the courtyard on the west side of the great lawn. Hazel heard rumors about Piper being ruthless and cutthroat, but she figured that they were rumors. Plus if she asked nicely, Piper was sure to give it back.

Hazel exhaled as she gathered her courage, before she approached the table. Piper, Drew, Lacy, Penelope, and Gigi were all sitting around the circular table and laughing at whatever Piper said when Hazel approached them.

"Excuse me." Hazel thought it would best to be polite; maybe she would put to use the manners her mother had taught her. They all looked her way; five gorgeous faces that looked like they belonged on a magazine cover.

"Well, what do we have here?" Penelope asked, flicking her brown hair over her shoulder.

"We do makeovers, but not for witches."

Drew made a cross with her long nimble fingers, like she was warding off evil. The rest of the table laughed, and Hazel fought the urge to just walk away. Many people were indiscreetly looking in their direction and snickering, but Hazel held her ground.

"What do you want?" Piper asked after her minions snickering died down. Piper's eyebrows were raised and her ever-changing eyes bore into her, her glossed lips were curled smirked.

"Well, I came to ask for my paper back. Please." Hazel stated. Piper frowned for a second in concentration, before exclaiming and reached in her bag. Piper pulled out Hazel's paper and set it down in front of her.

"I hope you don't mind, but I skimmed through it. It's really good, you'll probably get an A." Piper told her smile up at Hazel. Hazel cautiously smiled at the girl and opened her mouth to ask for her paper, but Piper cut her off.

"How long did you work on it?"

"Uh… twelve hours." Hazel answered as Piper fingered through the pages of the document in front her.

"Lacy told me all about how Ms. Lupa dogged you out, I can go talk to her if you want. Clear up the situation." Piper told her. Hazel glanced at Lacy the small blonde girl who sat beside Piper, who looked sheepish under Hazel's gaze.

"Oh…thanks that would be great."

"Of course." Piper said cheerfully to Hazel. Hazel narrowed her eyes. She had never spoken to Piper in her life, but she knew that she wasn't this nice.

Piper seemed to read her mind, because she responded, "I feel for you, Ms. Lupa's such a bitch, I'm so glad that I'm out of that class."

"I'll keep the paper, so it looks more believable and I'll just explain it after lunch in study hall." Piper suggested. Hazel narrowed her eyes, she really wanted her paper back but she knew if she made Piper mad, she would probably tell Ms. Lupa she did cheat. Piper rolled her blue eyes.

"I promise, Hazel I'll explain everything. Here, I'll even pinky swear." Piper held out her pinky to Hazel. Hazel glanced at the girl's tan hand and perfectly manicured pinky, then to her face. Hazel could only see pure sincerity in the beautiful girl's face. Piper nodded to her and Hazel locked her pinky on to hers.

Finally something was working out. Piper smiled at her sweetly and looked through Hazel's paper again.

"It really is a nice paper, too bad it won't get turned it." She said towards her.

"What? You just promised you'd turn it in for me!" Hazel yelled at the girl completely shocked.

"That was before it got something on it." She said.

"There's nothing-" Before Hazel could finish her statement Piper poured her Dr. Pepper on her paper. Hazel stood in shock for a few seconds as she stared at her ruined paper. Piper sat and smirked at her.

"Oh and there's a little something on you" She told her pointing, Hazel looked down at her shirt, before she felt the chill of ice coffee hit her shirt and face. Penelope and Gigi smirking up at her empty plastic cups in hand.

Hazel glared at them as she felt everyone start to laugh in the courtyard. She felt stupid and embarrassed for asking Piper McLean of all people to help her. She could feel her tears starting to well as everyone stared at her whispering and pointing.

"Piper McLean to the principle's office. Piper McLean to the principle's office." The loudspeaker said from overhead. Piper sighed and rolled her now hazel eyes as she stood up.

"I hope you enjoyed your lunch, Hazel." She said as she threw Hazel's paper in the trash, then turned, taking her exit. Hazel felt all the eyes turn on her before turning away and running. She didn't want anyone to see her cry.

Just as she was home free, she felt a body latch onto her. She looked up to see Jason Grace's blue eyes staring down at her in pity and concern. Hazel yanked away furiously. What right did he have to act like he cared for her now?

"Leave me alone!" She yelled.

"Hazel…"

"JUST FUCK OFF JASON!" She screamed before running towards the nearest bathroom. Once she was inside, she completely lost it and sobbed. She sobbed for what felt like hours.

She missed her mom and Sammy. She even missed the mean kids in New Orleans, they were mean but at least she knew they were mean. These kids here were a different kind of mean. They were crueler, were the people to smile in your face and stab her in the back. She felt paranoid, she didn't know who she could trust.

Hazel stopped sobbing long enough, to look at herself in the mirror. Her brown curly hair was wild, her face was splotchy, and her white shirt and cardigan were stained with coffee stains.

Hazel sighed looking for a paper towel. However since the school went on a save the earth bid, they only had hand dryers. She decided she'd have to go the rest of the school day looking like that. _Great could my life get any worse_, of course Hazel didn't know that in about two days she was about to see how worse it could get.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Notes: First and Foremost, I want to thank the people who are reading this story. I hope you are enjoying it so far. Also, sorry for the late update, I've been writing papers for school and studying for exams and whatnot. I'm going to try to be better with updating on a regular weekly basis. Anyways I do not own any of PJO, just borrowing the characters, and if you like this please favorite, follow or review. **

Hazel should have known about Murphey's law. When she was called down to the principal's office the next Wednesday, all she could think of was her future life behind bars. Or more accurately her lack of a future life. Hazel started to panic, as she watched the overly friendly secretary clack away, her eyes glued to the computer screen.

Hazel had only been inside the office space only a couple of times, due to the counselor, Mellie Hedge's, office being there. The office was the only thing really in the Zeus building, which was ironic since it was the biggest building on their school's campus. It was a huge white columned building on the outside, and had a huge marble statue in front of its steps. No one was sure if the statue was supposed to resemble Zeus or the first principal, since the builder of the school never made a plaque for it. Whatever the case, Hazel thought the building was pointless, since the only thing in it, were an open space that looked like a doctor's reception area and offices.

Although Hazel, had been to the office a few times. She had never been to Mr. D's office. She had heard about him though, she heard that he was lazy and arrogant, but if you made him mad enough he would be your worst nightmare. Hazel was only terrified what he would do to her if he found out what she had done to that teacher.

Hazel tried to calm her nerves, it wasn't like he could physically touch her, plus at least Mr. Brunner or Chiron as he liked to be called, would be in there. The vice-principal was very calming, as well as, levelheaded. He cared for the students at Mt. Olympus and spoke to them, which was a lot more than she could say about Mr. D.

His office door clicked open and Leo escorted by Chiron came out. Leo flashed her a quick wink and a smile before leaving.

"Miss Levesque, if you will…" Chiron said gesturing towards the wood and plexi-glass door. Hazel took a deep breath and stood up, wiping her clammy hands on her gray skirt. _Here goes nothing_, Hazel thought as she walked through the door.

The first thought, that crossed through Hazel's mind was unimpressive. As she looked around Mr. D's office, she only saw a normal boring looking beige office. Hazel wasn't sure what else to expect, maybe some eccentric decorations? But no there were none, just two chairs sat across from his wooden desk. A table sat to the left of his desk, and he had a bookshelf in the corner opposite of the table that looked like it hadn't been used in a long time. On his desk were a computer, a stack of papers, and a golden plaque that had his name: Mr. Dionysus, in cursive.

"Miss Lewis, take a seat." Mr. D's harsh voice sounded.

"It's Levesque." Hazel corrected softly as she took a seat in the plum seat. Chiron only looked between the two before sighing, and taking a seat at the table. Mr. D took a file from his stack of papers and looked through it, with a frown. Hazel gulped nervously; she had a feeling he was looking through her records.

"Do you have any idea why I've called you in here today, Miss Lewis?" Mr. D asked, without glancing up at her.

Hazel didn't say anything, although she pretty much knew what this was about. She tried not to let her face show her guilt.

"Well?" Mr. D looked up at her with those harsh purple eyes of his, and Hazel fought to not look away.

"Um…I don't know."

"Well, a teacher has gone missing for five days. Mr. Kronos, and being that you were in detention last Friday, well you wouldn't know anything, would you?" He asked, his purple eyes boring into her.

Hazel did her best to try to act casually and shrug, "Mr. K never showed up to detention."

"What happened on Friday, Miss Lewis?" Mr. D asked her. Hazel took a deep breath, trying to block out the real events before reciting what she had rehearsed with the others over the weekend. "Well after we figured, Mr. K would never show we left and I went home."

"Who is this we?"

"All of us."

"What order did you leave?"

"Well, it was Leo first, I believe. Then Percy and Calypso, then Piper, then Frank, no wait, it was Jason and then Frank, then me and Annabeth left last." Hazel said, pretending to think about it, even though she memorized the list perfectly.

"Hmm. Interesting." Mr. D, said before going back and reading something in her file.

"Interesting, what?" She asked trying to keep her voice level, but deep inside she was panicking that she had said the wrong thing. Mr. D only shook his head his black curls bouncing along with it.

"Nothing, it's just your story matches up with everyone's as well."

"That's because it's the truth!" She blurted, but covered her mouth when both Chiron and Mr. D gave her strange looks. Chiron looked wary, as he looked down at her, his brown bushy eyebrows knitted in concern.

"Hazel, please if you know anything it would be helpful. We don't want to have to bring an investigation onto campus."

"Investigation?" Hazel asked before she could stop herself. Chiron only nodded, before speaking gravely again.

"Yes, Hazel an investigation. His mother, Gaea, wants answers and if she doesn't get them soon, well…let's just say she's prepared to do whatever it takes."

Hazel felt herself paling at the news. "She can't actually do that, can she? I mean we go to school here. She can't shut the school down for an investigation."

Chiron only sighed before crossing his arms against his chest. He looked worse than Hazel had ever seen him. "It would only take a few days to investigate, but if she found enough evidence, she could possible sue the school for the sake of her son, resulting in the state to close the school."

Hazel sat there in shock for a few minutes. There had to be another way, there was no way the school could be shut down. St. Bernard's was ranked number one in the state of Massachusetts, and sixth in the entire nation. Ninety-five percent of their students went to Ivy Leagues Universities after they graduated, not to mention it was Hazel refuge from that other school. No way, could it be shut down.

Hazel's shock and panic must have shown through, because Mr. D ordered Chiron out. Hazel turned to the principle whose eyes studied her for a few seconds.

"Now, you understand Miss Lewis, why we are trying to get to the bottom of it ourselves. See, a missing person is not something to be taken lightly, you of all people should know." He said eyes gazing at her.

"Excuse me?" She asked, not sure if he was getting at what she thought he was getting at.

"Your brother, Nick, has been missing for how long? Six months? A year?" He said casually. Hazel started to tremble in anger thinking about her brother. She expected to be made fun of by the students, but the principal? Hazel wanted to smack in the head with his name plaque.

"I'm not making fun of you, Haley. I'm just saying you Haley, of all people, know how unpleasant and painful it is to have a loved one missing." He said, glancing at her for a reaction. Hazel wanted to stay calm and collected, but she was roaring inside. He had no idea what it was like for her or Nico.

"First off, my name is not Haley Lewis, it's Hazel Levesque." She sneered at him, while glaring at him. He only rolled his eyes.

"Secondly, I told you what I know. I went to detention, Mr. K wasn't there, I went home. I don't know where he is, but that's not my problem. It's yours. So if you kindly excuse me, I have a class to get to." She sharply told him and stood up to march out.

"Miss Levesque…" He called out, as Hazel hand touched the door. Hazel turned around to see Mr. D glancing at her, while straightening his black and plum striped tie.

"Just so you know, the police do not tolerate liars, and neither do I." He shared, purple eyes gazed on something far out. They turned to her and narrowed, and Hazel started to sweat under his glare.

"No matter how hard you try, you can't run from the truth. It will always catch up to you. And when it does… I'll be here waiting." Hazel shivered thinking about his advice as his purple eyes narrowed some more at her.

"Now, go." He said shooing her out.

Hazel quickly jetted out of the office, shutting the door behind. She quickly jetted out of the building, before letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She ran a hand through her thick air, trying to catch her breath. _He knows_, Hazel thought in panic.

She tried to reason it out, but she knew there was no other explanation than if Mr. D knew. Hazel shook her head, why was she such an idiot? Why didn't she just tell the truth? _Because you made a pact with the others_, her brain answered for her.

Right now though, Hazel was thinking about screw the others, but she knew she couldn't do that. If that happened, it would just start the blame game and Hazel knew how that would end. Her being the youngest and definitely least powerful, would make her the easy scapegoat. No, she had to stick with them for the time being, which meant warning them about the investigation.

Hazel glanced at her watch. Her sixth period study hall had just started. But still she couldn't help glancing at the door every time someone entered the Athena Library. She had her Ancient Civilizations textbook on the table in front of her, but she wasn't interested in it, and only pretended to flip through the pages.

Hazel sat in the nook of the library on the third floor, behind the History section. It was far and in the corner, so no one really knew where it was, but Hazel could see everyone. So she saw some skimming the high bookshelves, some sitting at the computers doing whatever, and others doing things that were highly inappropriate to do in a library.

The Athena Library was a circular building and had been renovated the summer before Hazel's freshman year. Apparently they had added a skylight and more windows, a whole new floor of classrooms, new technology, and a fresh paint job. Now the place was strikingly white and grey, making Hazel feel very exposed when she first entered the library. Thankfully, she found this spot her freshman year, so now it was her secret spot whenever she had study hall or entered the library. Now, she was going to have to reveal it with seven other people she barely knew.

Hazel looked back towards the entrance of the library to find Annabeth entering, her blonde curls swinging back and forth in her ponytail. Annabeth glanced up to the third floor, but Hazel knew she wouldn't be able to see her, not unless she knew specifically where to look.

Hazel leaned forward towards the balcony a little more, as Annabeth looked up determined to find Hazel. Once Annabeth spotted her, she began to ascend the stairs on the opposite side. It took awhile for Annabeth to get there but once she did, she only nodded to Hazel before sitting down.

"I can't believe I've never discovered this and I practically spend most of my free time here." Annabeth said glancing down at the other floors. "So, what's the S.O.S?" Annabeth asked, her stormy eyes gazing onto Hazel.

"We should wait for the others, it's a long story." Hazel told her. Annabeth didn't seem to appreciate it, as her lips formed a frown and eyes got even stormier. Hazel shrunk down in her seat a little bit. Even though, Hazel had never interacted with Annabeth until now, the senior girl always intimidated her with her brains, and her looks, not to mention how steely her glare was. Hazel was afraid that if she didn't tell the story now, Annabeth would force it out of her. Gratefully, the others showed up quickly enough all of them expressing concerns of their own.

"What's going on Hazel?" Frank asked softly.

"I think Mr. D knows." She told the rest of the seven. She got different looks from the rest of the seven and Hazel wanted to slide deeper into her seat.

"What do you mean Mr. D knows? You didn't tell him, did you?" Jason asked irritated, he was wearing a white tee and navy shorts, indicating he was probably supposed to be in practice. Hazel only shot him a glare.

"Of course, I didn't." She said, before taking a deep breath and launching into her conversation with Mr. D and Chiron. After she was done everyone stared at her with mixed expressions on their faces.

"Well done, Levesque. I didn't know you had that kind of balls to tell off Mr. D." Leo finally said, grinning at her appraisingly. Piper only rolled hers at her brother, scoffing.

"Not the time, Leo. This is bad, very very bad news." Piper said. Her voice rose in panic, while she combed through her curly brown hair. Leo only rolled his eyes and raised his hands in surrender.

"It's just a joke. Geez, have a sense of humor."

"Piper's right, Hazel this is bad." Annabeth said, ignoring Leo's comment and gazing towards Hazel. "If Mr. D. knows, then you can't go around making him angry."

"I didn't mean to, it's just he insulted my brother and called me the wrong name." Hazel said defending herself. The others looked away at the mention of her brother except for Annabeth and Percy.

"Mr. D may not be the nicest, but he never forgets an insult." Annabeth told her, grey eyes filled with warning and fear, like she knew about something about Mr. D that was terrifying.

"Plus, you don't want Mr. D to know your name." Calypso chimed in, from where she was standing next to Percy. Like Jason she was wearing a white t-shirt and navy shorts; despite that, she still looked gorgeous.

"If he knows your name, it means you've done something extremely noticeable, usually bad. If he called you by your actually name, you better watch out, he's going to be watching you like a hawk."

Hazel started to sweat. Oh no, she was in deep. She didn't mean to insult the director, she was just so angry at the mentioning of her Nico; she'd let it get the best of her.

"Oh-don't worry about, you just have to be super careful from now on." Calypso added after noticing Hazel's expression.

"It doesn't matter now, since their having an investigation." Piper added close to hysterics again. Calypso only rolled her eyes and muttered under breath.

"Thanks a lot, Hazel, now we're all going to jail." Piper told her. Hazel couldn't help but start to get angry with Piper.

"Are you blaming me for this?"

"If you had just kept your mouth shut, none of this would be happening." Piper sneered at her. Hazel felt herself fuming as she stood up, towering over the girl. She was so done with Piper bullying Hazel.

"Maybe if you hadn't opened the window in detention, none of this would be happening." Hazel spat back. Piper sputtered and scoffed back at Hazel.

"That wasn't my fault. It was hot, my make-up was sweating off."

"Poor you. Gods forbid, you're make-up come off." Hazel told her, while rolling her eyes. "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't even know about the investigation."

Piper opened her mouth to retort back, but Annabeth cut her off.

"Both of you stop it!" Annabeth glanced between the both of them harshly, while Hazel sat back down, ashamed that she had let her emotions get the best of her again today.

"Piper, she's right. Without Hazel we wouldn't know about the investigation and how to prepare for it." Jason spoke this time, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, much to Piper's dismay. Hazel only rolled her eyes, at Jason, who was looking at her with a pained expression.

"Do we need to prepare for it? I mean what exactly are they going to do?" Frank timidly asked his eyebrows knitted in confusion. Hazel thought he looked cute like that, like a cuddly panda, making her only want to hug him. Hazel shook the thought out her head, not sure where it had come from. She focused back onto what Annabeth was saying.

"…need to get rid of any obvious evidence in our lockers or school bag. Somebody should go back to the towers and make sure nothing is out of place." Annabeth suggested.

"Me and Callie can go." Percy volunteered, much to Calypso surprised in her caramel eyes. Annabeth frowned like she didn't like the idea of Percy doing anything. Hazel was kind of with her; she didn't trust the guy fully either.

"C'mon princess. It would be less suspicious if we went than any other combination. I mean it would just look like were sneaking off again to the others." Percy offered. Annabeth narrowed her eyes at the couple as Percy intertwined his hands with Calypso's.

"Fine, but be quick and thorough, we don't want anything pointing to us. You should go as soon as possible." She advised. Percy only smirked in that way of his before winking at her. Annabeth only scoffed at him, before turning to the rest of them.

"For the time being, we should all act natural and try not raise suspicion." Annabeth advised.

The others started to get up from their seats leaving, but Hazel couldn't. Hazel nodded, but she was still shaken up by the day's events. As Annabeth took her leave she looked back at Hazel, before leaving.

"Thanks for the warning, Hazel."

Hazel didn't know why Annabeth was thanking her, as she was pretty sure she had led them all straight to their doom.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hey Guys! I first want to apologize for taking so long to post this chapter with finals and family vacation I've been slacking off. I promise the next chapter will not take so long. Secondly, thank you to all the people who have reviewed I appreciate your support. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this one and please review and follow:)**

Percy didn't want to take Calypso home, but she had made him. After the long day of interrogation by Mr. D, and the impromptu meeting with the others, all he wanted was to be alone. Still, he would rather be with Calypso, than leave her alone at her house.

Even though, Calypso assured him she would be fine when he dropped her off, he couldn't help but get angry for her as he rode back to Weston. He thought about that ugly old red brick building, and Calypso's scars, and the stories she told him. It made him so mad, he wanted to march right in and punch her father's lights out, but he knew he couldn't do that, at least not if he didn't want to make the situation worse for her. Still he couldn't help but feel so guilty, when he drove back into Weston.

Percy hadn't always been rich, in fact up until tenth grade Percy was as poor as they came. He grew up in New York, in the bad part of Brooklyn, where he stayed in a small two- bedroom apartment with his mom, Sally Jackson and ugly step-father, Gabe Ugliano. He had never known his real dad, but sometimes at night he would curse at him for what he did to his mom.

When his mom was a sophomore in college, she had gotten pregnant with Percy. After much debate, she decided to keep him, but she had to drop out of school. Percy's father, whoever he was, didn't and successfully graduated, leaving his mother to be a single-mother with no degree in the middle of New York. For the first years of Percy's life he hadn't known how much his mom had sacrificed. She worked three jobs, so Percy didn't see her much, but when he did, she was always smiling at him like he was the greatest thing in the world.

When Percy turned ten, his mom married Gabe. The man was jerk and smelled like a mix of beer and two-week old tuna that had been left out. From ten to twelve, Gabe ruined his life. The man was lousy and never seemed to work a day in his life. He was rude not only to Percy, but to his mom. Percy knew what happened when Gabe got angry and drunk and he hated it, but there wasn't much he could do since if he intervened it only made it worse. He tried calling the cops one time, but when they referred him to CPS, he only hung up. He couldn't bear not being with his mom.

The only plus side from Gabe, was that his mom got to quit one of her jobs, so he saw her more often. Thankfully, on one fateful day the police came knocking on their door, with a warrant of arrest for Gabe. Turns out the no good son of bitch was a big drug dealer, and was found guilty and sentenced for fifteen years.

By then, his mom filed for a divorce, which of course the state agreed to. Between the ages of twelve and fourteen, it was only Percy and his mom. They moved to a new apartment in Manhattan, and for a while Percy was happy. He met his best friends, Grover and Rachel, in middle school and they were practically inseparable.

Then, his mom met Paul. Don't get Percy wrong, Paul was a very nice guy, who adored and loved his mom. No, Percy actually liked Paul, but he couldn't help but blame Paul for flipping his life upside down. Paul was a professor at Harvard, where he headed over the English Department. Since, his mother worked at home now, it was easier for them to pack up and move than for Paul to move to New York.

So that summer, after his freshman year, Percy found himself in one of the richest towns in the country. It's not like Percy despised the wealth, since now he didn't have to save up to buy new shoes or whatever he wanted, but it made him feel awkward. He felt so weird, when Rachel and Grover visited during the summer after his sophomore year. They stared at him with such awe, when they saw where he lived or how much money he spent when they went shopping.

He told his friends to cut it out and that he was the same Percy underneath the shiny new things. However, Percy couldn't help but wonder if he had changed because of the money. In the beginning of tenth grade, Percy made a pact not to become one of those rich kids, who was never accountable for any trouble they got in to and pointed fingers.

That's why he hung out with himself, pretended that school was overrated, and chose to dress sloppy and break the rules. He acted out as a rebel to the system, so that he wouldn't be part of it. He pretended to be a jerk, so he wouldn't become one. As twisted as it sounded, it worked.

But now he wasn't so sure. He had the blood of a dead teacher on his hands, and instead of confessing up to it, he'd turned into a coward and ran. He felt awful for it too. He wasn't a big fan of Mr. K, but he felt that his life was worth more than what they were doing.

Percy only shook his head, as he pulled up in the circle driveway to his home. Even after living there for two years, he couldn't get over it. It wasn't the biggest house in Weston, but it was still bigger than most houses. It was a modern estate painted a soft grey color with navy blue accents. From the front it didn't look like much, only a regular suburban two-story house, with a small porch, but he knew better. Once inside he was faced with the grand foyer, where the sapphire chandelier hung down from the ceiling, hitting the grey room with a blue light. He looked to the right to see if his mom was in the sitting room, where she sometimes lounged and read, but he found it empty.

"Mom, I'm home!" He called out loudly just in case she was in deep in the house.

"In here, Perce." She called back. Percy tried to listen where her voice came from, as he walked past the black grand piano, his black chucks moving softly on the marble floor. He walked past the staircase and looked left, entering the kitchen.

There his mom stood at the oven, putting in cookies in the oven, while taking out some red velvet cupcakes. She put it on the grey and white marble counter top, before facing him.

"What is all this?" Percy asked. The marble and mahogany kitchen was covered with baking material and utensils. His mother stood in the middle of it all in her pale blue apron, her wavy brown hair pulled into a ponytail.

"I told you, we had a benefit to go tonight." She said smiling brightly at him, while she turned back to the stove and stirred something.

"Well, I knew that mom, but why are you baking?"

"Because, the dessert caterer fell through, and apparently Paul's colleagues have been begging for my cupcakes and cookies, since the last thanksgiving." She said as she started piping the cupcakes with cream icing. Percy shook his head at his mom, only she would do something so nice and last minute.

"So how was your day? By the way Rachel called about ten minutes ago, asking if you were home yet. Said she'd been trying to reach you this past hour."

"My phone died. Did she say why she called?" Percy asked, wondering why his best friend was calling him in the middle of the day on a Wednesday. His mom shrugged, going back to the stove.

"Don't know, but she said it was urgent. But who knows she might just want to tell you about her latest attempt for saving the honeydews or her finished art project." His mom said easily, since it was something Rachel did quiet often. Percy reminded himself to talk to Rachel about how she scaled emergencies.

"Here, taste." His mom ordered as she held out a noodle for him. Percy raised an eyebrow at his mom.

"You're making spaghetti, too?" He asked while taking the noodle from her hands.

"The spaghetti is for you, mister. I figured you were tired of ordering in, so I thought I'd make you dinner." She said while checking out the cookies in the oven.

"You're the best mom, and the noodles are done." He told her grinning. She smiled before taking the pot of noodles to the sink and draining them, steam flying everywhere.

"I'm gonna go find out what Rachel wants, what time are you leaving?" He said kissing his mom on the cheek.

"Six forty-five." She told him. Before Percy left the kitchen, he took a red velvet cupcake with him upstairs. As he climbed the stairs he devoured his mom's cupcake, it seemed to melt in his mouth. Percy was tempted to go back down and get another, but he was sure his mom would not appreciate it.

After he past his mom and Paul's room, the guest room, game room, and his bathroom, he finally found himself in his room. Well room wasn't the most accurate way to describe it. It was more the size of a whole apartment and painted a deep royal blue. In the middle of the room sat Percy's un-made bed with grey and blue sheets. Across from his bed, his thirty-two inch flat screen mounted the wall, his _Xbox_ connected to it. Scattered around his room, were various clothes, food, and papers. Percy kicked the clothes and shoes out of the way, as he grabbed for his _Macbook Air _from his cluttered desk that sat shoved in the corner.

As he waited for it to power up, he plugged in his phone and looked out his bay windows. Outside he could see some of the gardeners watering the plants and the hedgerows. The rectangular pool was calm, the sun's rays reflecting on its clear blue water. Maybe after this talk, Percy would go swimming; the water always calmed him down enough to think.

Once his computer booted up, he immediately faced-timed Rachel. It only took two rings for her to pick up. He saw his friend's freckled face, and green eyes, her fiery red hair tied in a side ponytail. She was smacking gum and seemed to be walking somewhere.

"Percy! I've been texting, calling, and face-timing you for the past hour! Where have you been! If this was a life or death situation, I would have been dead!" Rachel spat out in that rapid way of hers. Percy rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Well it's a good thing it isn't. What's up?"

"Don't give me sass, Perce!" She scolded, emerald eyes narrowing. "Anyways, so I was snooping through my dad's office..."

"Why?" Percy asked her, said girl only rolled her eyes.

"For an art project, duh." She said it in a tone, like the answer should have been obvious. She smacked her gum again before continuing, "Anyhow, so I was looking through his stuff, and I came across something he'd written for a news segment. Usually, I don't pay attention to his news documents and such, but this one had your school's name on it!" She exclaimed excitedly.

Percy felt his eyes widen. If Mr. Dare had that, what did it mean? Mr. Dare was a producer for Fox network. If they were planning on doing a segment, well Percy needed to warn the others. Rachel must not have seen his face because she continued.

"Apparently there's a missing teacher at your school, and the networks want to do a segment on the investigation of Friday. So, Percy if you get an interview, don't forget to shout out the little people up here."

"Wait, what?" Percy blurted, his mind trying to wrap his head around the new information.

"I mean me, Kelp Face! Gods!" She said exasperated.

"No, not you. I mean an investigation, with the police and stuff? They're going to film it?" He asked, feeling queasy. It was bad enough they were going to do an investigation, but if they were filming it, that was so much worse.

"Of course. It's a huge story, since nothing seems to go on in the Isle of Blest. Except for that one story of the car crash, which was too tragic since those three teenagers died. But now that there's a major scandal-scandal, all of the major networks want to cover it. Fox, NBC, CNN, etcetera and not just Boston's news stations."

Percy felt his heart racing and his skin paling. This was awful, he had to do something, but there was nothing left to do. He had to ask Rachel if she could figure out more information.

"Personally, I think someone killed him, Grover thinks he's in hiding, but you know Grover's always likes to think the best in people..."

"Rachel…" Percy cut off her fast chatter. "You sure that it's this Friday?"

"Yep, pretty sure." She answered. Percy wanted to throw up and hide away, but he knew he couldn't do that.

"Hey, you ok? You look a little pale." Rachel asked before, her eyes widened, making her green eyes look like huge gems. "You didn't know him…like personally? Did you?" She whispered.

For a while Percy didn't answer. Mr. Kronos was his physics teacher last year, and was by far the worst teacher Percy ever had. He and Mr. K would argue incessantly last year, almost to the point that Percy was expelled from Mr. Olympus. Percy had hated him, but now that he was dead, Percy knew that hate was feeble at best.

"Rachel…"Percy said trying to find his voice. "Do you think you can maybe get your dad to stall the news stations? At least for another week?" Percy asked.

Rachel's face scrunched up, making her look like a hamster. "I don't know, Perce…this is a big story for my dad. And as much as I dislike what he does…" She trailed off, Percy knew she had a strained relationship with her dad.

"Please, Rach. You know I wouldn't ask you to do this if it wasn't important." Percy pleaded, softening his face and using his puppy dog pout. Rachel only sighed and clicked her tongue.

"I'll try my best, but Percy it's going to get out. The truth always does or some version of it."

"So I've heard. Thanks, Rach I owe you one." Percy felt a weight being lifted off his shoulders since last Friday, but Rachel only rolled her green eyes.

"I've been hearing that since seventh grade, where's my rewards?" She grumbled. Percy laughed at her expression. For a while they just talked about school and New York, and Rachel's save the Pronghorn(no idea what that was) campaign. Percy didn't realize how nice it was to talk to someone, who wasn't concerned about their economic status, or latest fashion trends. Percy also didn't realize how much he missed his friends.

Although, they were a bit eccentric and very eco-friendly, he wouldn't trade them for anything. He couldn't wait until graduation; Rachel, Grover, and him were all planning on taking a gap year, so they could travel the world to promote eco-friendliness (Rachel and Grover) and to sightsee. Percy only just wanted to get out of Weston, albeit he wanted to leave with no strings attached, but it was too late for that.

"Well, I gotta go. I've got a study group slash protest to attend to and I'm sure you're swamped with all that high-class homework." Rachel said as she got on the red line of the subway towards Central Park.

"Alright..." Percy really wanted to continue talking to her, but he held his tongue. Rachel grinned at him, "Don't be a stranger mister, and pick up when I call." She said before hanging up.

Percy closed his laptop and set it aside, before leaning back on his headboard. He put his head in his hands, as he tried to dissect the new information that Rachel had given him. If the police were coming on Friday that meant that tomorrow he and Calypso would have to check for evidence, the only problem was that The Tower was off limits.

Percy felt himself tense; he was getting a headache from all the thinking. He considered calling his girlfriend for a plan and comfort, but he didn't want to seem pathetic and he wasn't in the mood for talking (plus he didn't want her to get in more trouble).

Percy glanced outside again. The sun was starting to set, the orange light reflecting on the pool. Percy perked up, he needed to take a swim and calm down. Quickly, Percy changed into some blue swim trunks before going downstairs. Once downstairs he saw his mother, dressed in a long black dress and his stepfather dressed in a tux. Both of them looked good, like a star couple on a red carpet.

"Hey Percy, going for a swim?" Paul asked, while running a hand through his salt and pepper hair.

"No, I just wanted to walk around shirtless and with swim trunks." Percy replied. His mom only pressed her lips in a thin line, and crossed her arms. "Please, Percy cut the sarcasm." Despite her reprimanding him, Paul was grinning, he and Percy bantered like this all the time.

"Fine mom, and I just want to get some laps in." He said, raising his hands in surrender.

"That's fine, make sure you don't stay out there too long. I don't want you catching a cold."

"It's Spring, mom." Percy reminded her.

"Yes, but it's only April, and it was a harsh winter this year. Also do your homework, and remember the spaghetti's on the stove. Just heat it up if it's cold. We're only in Boston so if you need anything just call." His mom told him. Percy fought to roll his eyes. He loved his mom, but sometimes she worried too much.

"Ok, mom."

"And take a towel outside with you."

"I know mom."

"Last time, you dripped all through the house and practically ruined my couch." She brought up. Percy only rolled his eyes, before his mom smiled and gave him a hug. Paul gave him a fist bump and a wink before they both disappeared through the front door.

Percy found the linen closet and grabbed the first towel he saw, which happened to be a pale yellow one and stepped out from the kitchen's sliding door.

Percy noticed it was slightly chilly outside, despite the fact it was mid April. Still the fading sun's rays felt good on his skin. Percy only exhaled as he set his towel on one of the beach chairs. He walked around to the deeper end of the pool before diving in, the cool water refreshing and heightening his senses.

Percy did some strokes back and forth the length of the pool, each time getting faster and sharper. His arms cut through the water as smooth as a knife cutting through cheese. He felt great and relaxed; he wished he could just swim all day.

As he swam he thought with each stroke, he was getting him farther away from his problems. It was like all his problems were melting and fading away in water behind him. He was swimming away his problems, making them disappear behind him, if only it was that simple.

**AN: I hope you enjoyed that and please do review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN:Omg guys I am the worst. I know I promised a quick update and I have absolutely no excuse whatsoever. I've had writers' block and I've been sick and working and urgh! Still I feel awful. Anyways I will be continuing this story don't worry. This chapter is Percy and next POV is one of my personal faves Leo!. Also I hope you enjoy and can't wait to see what you think and I don't own PJO or HOO though I wish I did. **

Percy tried rubbing the drowsiness out of his eyes, but it only made them droop more. Percy didn't get much sleep last night, due to planning and homework. Mr. Smith's lecture on the _Inferno _wasn't doing much to entertain him either. He leaned back in his desk, his head finding cushion on the wall behind him. He fought a yawn as he glanced around the room, trying to find something to keep him interested. Usually, Percy didn't care if he fell asleep in class, but he couldn't afford to, at least not today he needed the plan to work smoothly.

Percy scanned the room. It was an ordinary classroom, the teacher's wooden desk sat in the front, a white board sat behind it. Mr. Smith stood turned away from them, as he scribbled more notes on the board. Percy didn't try to read any of it, for one it was already in chicken scratch and secondly even if it were perfect handwriting, with Percy's dyslexia it would take too long to dissect. Anyways if Percy really needed it he could find it online. Besides Percy found most of this useless and a waste of time, when was he ever going to need to know about the six level of hell? Never, that's when.

So, Percy found himself looking around the room again. Since, he sat at the back of his class he only saw the back of most of his classmates' heads. There were only about twenty kids in his English class, most he didn't know, despite him going to school with them for two years. He spotted two seats over to his left, one of the Stolls (Connor or Travis? He got them confused), pulling on Katie Gardner's braid in front of him. She kept turning around and glaring at him, but for the most part kept quiet.

Like him, majority of his classmates were bored. Percy spotted some on their phones; others were doodling and whispering among themselves. The guy on his right, Clovis or something, had his head on his desk and was completely knocked out like he was everyday. His small snores kept blowing his blond tuft of hair up and down on his forehead.

The only person who seemed interested in Mr. Smith's class was of course Annabeth Chase. She sat in the front row, feverishly scribbling everything Mr. Smith said. Her curly blonde hair that was always pulled back in a high ponytail, swished back and forth as her pen flew across her paper.

Percy didn't know what to make of her. Sure he knew about her, a straight A student, their predicted (most likely) class valedictorian, held a perfect 4.0 GPA, but he felt that he didn't know her at all.

When Percy first arrived to Mt. Olympus, he hadn't known anyone; Annabeth was his tour guide. Percy wouldn't say that they disliked each other at first, but slowly throughout the year they became to hate each other, maybe even to enemy status. But, then it changed once she started dating Luke.

Percy felt himself grimace when he thought of Luke. Luke was nothing but trouble. Usually, Percy didn't interfere with people's lives especially with his enemies; what they did was their business. However, even Percy didn't want his enemy to pry into Luke's turmoil. So, despite Percy's better judgment, he tried to warn Annabeth, but she wouldn't have any of it, in fact it only seemed to make her hate him more.

But slowly as more things happened during Luke and hers' relationship, Annabeth started to depend on Percy. So during the summer and the start of junior year he felt himself falling more into Annabeth's life, despite their hatred towards each other. Still, even with their mutual truce Percy wouldn't call them friends, so by the time the incident happened, Percy felt too awkward and guilty to reach out to her. Now, Percy wasn't sure where they stood, he was pretty sure she still hated him. And well Percy wasn't sure whether he resented her or pitied her, maybe both.

It didn't matter though, since he was dating Calypso now and any feelings about Annabeth would not go over smoothly with Calypso. Percy, although caring for Calypso, knew that she got jealous easily, sometimes irrationally. Thinking of his girlfriend, she should have been here by now. Percy glanced at the clock above the white board. It was almost twenty minutes until lunch.

Just as Percy decided to take out his phone and text her, there was a knock at the door and Calypso stepped in. Percy's breath caught as she glanced in his direction before turning to Mr. Smith and handing him the note. Mr. Smith sighed as he glanced towards Calypso. It wasn't uncommon for her to interrupt class with "notes" from the office asking for him.

"You sure this is from the office? What does Mr. D need now?" He asked frowning down at the note. Calypso just shrugged, her face indifferent.

"I'm just the deliverer, but I saw Mr. D sign it, so it must be important."

Mr. Smith just sighed again and scanned the note, before calling out "Mr. Jackson for you."

Percy quickly stood up and grabbed his backpack from his desk. As he moved toward the door he tried to ignore the wolf-whistles and grins from his male classmates. He especially ignored Annabeth's glare at him, as he took his girlfriend's hand and led her out of the door.

"Thanks for the rescue, Mr. Smith was trying to kill me with boredom." He said smiling down at his girlfriend. She only smiled faintly, a light blush gracing her cheeks as they stumbled down the stairs of the building, however before they got to the bottom he pulled her into him.

Like always she smelled of cinnamon and her caramel hair was pulled into a side braid. Her face, although extraordinarily beautiful without it, had some makeup on it. It was only a little, so it didn't take any of her natural beauty away.

Percy stared down at her, brushing her bangs behind her ear, so he could see her face. Her almond eyes were looking up at him gleaming, while her eyebrows knit in confusion and nervousness. Even still looking confused, she was gorgeous.

"What? What is it?" Her soft and melodic voice sounded through the stairwell.

"Nothing, I just forget sometimes." Percy blurted. He could feel the heat rushing to his face and neck as he glanced down towards the concrete stairs.

"Forget what?" Calypso's voice came out still nervous, and Percy could feel her starting to draw back from him like she afraid what he was going to say. Percy glanced up, cupping her face so she couldn't turn around.

Slowly, he leaned in and their lips met. Her soft lips tasted like cherries and for what felt like forever they stood there lips locked. Percy pulled away first, despite first initiating the kiss.

"C'mon, we should go." He said, still looking down at his girlfriend, as he stroked her cheek with his thumb. He could feel the heat rising to her cheeks as she looked up at him, her lips curving to a shy smile. He kissed her cheek one more time before grabbing her hand and leading the way.

Once they got to The Tower, they immediately checked to make sure the coast was clear before Calypso handed him a key from her white blouse pocket. Quickly Percy unlocked the glass door, as Calypso and he slipped past it.

The foyer was in fact dark, as all of the power for The Tower had been completely shut off. Percy wasn't fazed, though as he took out his phone and pressed the flashlight. A pool of light shone as he stared at the empty foyer in front of him. It was still set up the same as many portraits of their past principals hung on the wall as well as plaques from those who donated.

Percy didn't take the time to admire them though, as he took Calypso's hand and found the staircase located in the back. They started to ascend the spiral staircase, Calypso's sandals clacking on the marble stairs. As they wound up the stairs in the dark, Percy couldn't help but feel like he was in a scary movie going up and up and there would be the killer there at the top.

Thankfully, it wasn't like that. The twelfth floor was empty and quiet, except for his and Calypso's breathing. Percy shined his phone light across the hall, the dust particles floated through and settled on the wooden floor. They crossed the hallway to the last door on the left. The wooden door was covered in yellow caution tape, even the clearly marked word _Detention _that was carved in the door, could not be seen.

Percy tried the door, but it was no surprise that it was locked shut. Percy turned to his girlfriend who was staring at him bleakly, but still pulled out a brass key. Percy couldn't blame her; he didn't really want to go back in there either. Despite, all of Percy's instincts to stop and walk away, she unlocked the door and they pushed through the heavy wooden door.

Detention was exactly how it was since last Friday, which Percy didn't know was a good thing or bad thing. Ten wooden desks sat in two rows, each desk having two seats. The untouched bookshelves sat in the back, still collecting dust from the seventies. And of course the chalkboard in the front, still had: No Talking in Mr. K's handwriting on it. The only thing that had changed was the window overlooking the parking lot was closed.

Still, Percy couldn't get the image of his teacher plummeting to his death out of his head. He felt the scene replaying in his head. Calypso must have been thinking the same thing because she quickly muttered, "Let's just get this over with."

For the next twenty-something minutes, both of them worked in silence. They checked the desks and bookshelves and everything else, careful not to touch anything unless needed. Percy didn't find much except for a gum wrapper, a wire, and a lighter. Whose they were, Percy didn't have any guesses.

As Percy slowly made his way to the window he could see some of the juniors and seniors heading out to their cars to get some lunch off campus.

"Callie, we need to hurry, lunch is starting." He warned.

"I'm trying. Something's stuck underneath this desk."

He turned around to see his girlfriend on all fours under the desk furiously trying to pull something off it. Percy for a second stood staring at her, it didn't help that she was wearing a short navy skirt that left little to the imagination. Percy couldn't help but get excited and let his mind wander.

"Ok, I got it. Let's go." She said, standing up. Percy couldn't help but feel disappointed, but then he shook it off. Now was not the time to be thinking like that. Quickly, they threw everything they found in his backpack, as they headed out the door. As, Calypso bent down to lock the door behind them, it was then that Percy saw a purple bruise on his girlfriend's lower back and hip.

"What is that?" He voiced, pointing at the bruise.

"What is what?" Calypso asked turning around to face him, as she slide the key into her front pocket.

"That bruise. On your hip." Percy explained. Calypso's face dropped as she started to tuck in her shirt in like how it was before.

"We don't have time Percy, we need to go before we get caught." She said quietly. We'll talk about it later." She added.

"Which means never." He found himself muttering. Calypso's eyes snapped up at his and for a second she looked irritated. Percy was irritated too, they had avoided this conversation since she first admitted where her bruises came from. Percy was tired of seeing her this way, and being able to do nothing about it.

"What?" She whispered.

Percy felt himself tensing up; he hated this, especially knowing witnessing what happened with his mom. Percy tried to calm himself, taking out his anger on her wouldn't do any good.

"Callie, I'm worried about you, okay? You're not in a safe environment, I just think that maybe we should call somebody." Percy started, her eyes widened when he mentioned getting someone else involved.

"Not the police," he added quickly. "Just, maybe someone to get you out of this situation."

"Someone like social services?" She added bitterly, while crossing her arms over her chest. It wasn't the first time he heard her use that tone when regarding social services.

"Well, no…but yeah." He told her.

"Are you trying to get rid of me? Is that what this is?" Her voice cut through the silence sharply. Her almond eyes stared at him, a look of hurt and betrayal flashing through them. Percy took a mental step back, the last thing he needed was an upset girlfriend.

Calmly, he sighed before trying to reassure his girlfriend, "No, Callie…I just don't think…" Percy tried to think as he fumbled with his words. "I just want you to be happy is all."

"I am happy." Calypso retorted tersely, which radiated anything but happiness. Percy took a step back, he'd never seen her so angry before. It terrified him a little. Calypso only sighed and uncrossed her arms.

"I'm sorry, Percy. I know you're just trying to help. But I don't want to leave. I only have one more year to go, after that I'm free, but for the time being I like it here. I like it here with _you_." She told him, her eyes flashing with the same affection for him as earlier. Percy felt the blood rush to his face under her gaze. It didn't help also when she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a long deep kiss. Before things got too heated though, she pulled away and flashed a gentle smile at him.

He found it hard to argue with her when all she wanted was to be with him. Still Percy had endless doubts swarming his mind, but he kept quiet. Calypso gave him another kiss, this one only a small peck, before taking his hand.

"It's just a year, Perce. I'll be fine, you have nothing to worry about." She tried to say convincingly, but neither one of them failed to notice where they were standing and how they'd gotten there.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hello, Everyone. So so so sorry that I've been away for a long time. I know that's not fair of me, but school has been really kicking my a**. Anyways, I'm sorry I'm so unpredictable. I'll try to do better. Hopefully you enjoy this chapter! Also I don't own PJO or HOO. **

Leo wasn't surprised how his life was turning out. Considering the things he'd been through and done, he was sure he'd end up in police custody someday; he had just hoped it wouldn't have been so soon.

There were so many things he hadn't done like built that rocket launcher he'd always dreamed about, or rig the sound system of Mt. Olympus to blare inappropriate things at random intervals. But more importantly and somewhat embarrassingly he hadn't gotten past first base. (Shocking, right?) I mean all the ladies he met fell hopelessly in love with him. I mean what wasn't there to like about a scrawny, un-groomed, short, Mexican mechanic?

Leo shook the thought out of his head. He knew he wasn't the most attractive guy out there, but he knew he had something to offer to the girl world. Although to be fair, even though his options were fewer than some, he had some girls that had liked him. It's just, call Leo old fashioned, but he wanted his first time to be with someone who meant something to him, not just a drunken hook up that he'd regret for the rest of his life. Now he was debating if that was even liable considering the situation.

For the seventh time this year, he was sitting in Mr. D's office. Leo was here so much he was starting to think that Mr. D was actually warming up to him. Unfortunately, today wasn't the case. When Percy told them about the investigation, it was only a matter of time before Leo was going to be called down for an interrogation. As he sat in the plush purple chair, he tapped his finger against his thigh nervously.

His ADD was seriously acting up right now, which was inconvenient considering that he was about to be grilled with questions. He considered running, it wasn't like they were going to notice his absence, but he knew that would only make things worse. Running would only make him look guilty and Leo had enough bad experiences with running away from his problems.

No, despite his inner subconscious' warning, he stayed planted in the chair. Not a second later, came in two people, a man and a woman. They both walked in so seriously, Leo almost wanted to burst out laughing, instead he only flashed a cheeky smile at them and straightened up in his chair.

"You're Leo Valdez, correct?" The man asked, wrinkling his nose at him. Leo only continued to smile.

"The one and only, and you sir must be the bad cop, pleasure to meet you." Leo said as he offered his hand to the tall skinny man. The man frowned and pushed his stringy blonde hair out of his face.

"It's Detective Augur to you, Mr. Valdez." He said glaring at him with pale watery blue eyes. Leo fought to role his eyes, but he thought better to push his luck. The detective sat down in Mr. D's chair, which Leo thought was sort of disrespectful, but kept his mouth as he watched the detective fix his tie.

His eyes fixed to the woman standing behind the detective, and his heart almost stopped. She was gorgeous! She stood arms crossed at around 5 foot 7 inches, dressed in a standard dark blue cop uniform (which in Leo's opinion didn't do her justice), behind the detective like a bodyguard. Although, Leo knew better not to say that, she looked like the type who would crush any person who even suggested she was a sidekick. Her dark black hair was pulled tightly in a bun, revealing a pale, beautiful, and menacing face. Leo glanced down to her badge that read: Officer Snow. Somehow it was fitting.

Leo didn't realize how hard he was staring, until Detective what's-his-face cleared his throat. Leo had to fight himself to turn his attention back to him. He was disappointed with the view.

"Mr. Valdez…" The detective trailed with disdain, as he looked through what Leo assumed was his file. "You know why you're here, right? This is about your missing teacher, Mr. Kronos."

"Aw man! You mean to tell me this isn't one of those motivational speeches to stay away from drugs?" Leo asked, feigning disappointment. The man looked up from his file and narrowed his eyes at Leo, and Leo had a feeling the wanted to gut him right then and there.

"Haha, you're very funny. I hope you'll have the same sense of humor in jail." He deadpanned.

Leo did his best to shrug off his threat. "Just trying to lighten the mood a bit." He retorted. The man grimaced, before replying, "We take our jobs on the force very seriously Mr. Valdez, so now is not the time to joke around."

Leo glanced back at Officer Snow to see if she agreed with this statement, but she only glared at him with her dark brown-almost black eyes. Leo turned his focus back to the detective.

"Mr. Valdez, so about your teacher?" The man prompted. Leo stayed casual and shrugged his shoulders.

"What about him?"

"What happened that Friday at detention?"

Leo paused for a second feigning to think. He could tell that the detective was getting irritated and that made him a little happy inside. Before Detective Asshole opened his mouth again Leo replied, "Sorry, the McSchizzle doesn't do private interviews man."

"Excuse me?" He said taken back. Leo only rolled his eyes and felt insulted that this was the guy that they sent to decode him.

"I want my lawyer man." Leo clarified with a huff. Seriously, he thought that detectives had to have some kind of training, but he guessed he was wrong. Or maybe not because the detective was quick to respond, "Why do you need a lawyer unless you're guilty?"

"I'm not guilty!" Leo shouted. As the words flew out his mouth, he realized what a mistake he'd made. The man only raised an eyebrow at Leo before smiling smugly at him.

"If you're not guilty, then answer the questions. If you don't know, then it'll be obvious that you're innocent."

Leo felt his leg shaking, but he tried to stop that, he didn't need to come off any more nervous than he already was. However Leo stood his ground and tried to play it cool. Instead replying, "How about I'll answer your questions when you get me a lawyer."

"So demanding, Mr. Valdez. What would your mother think?"

For a second, Leo felt his heart drop in despair as he thought of his mom and how much he missed her. Leo fought a sob coming from his throat, but choked it back when he realized that Detective Asshole was gazing on him intently, waiting for a reaction.

Immediately, that made Leo furious. How dare he use his mom against him? Leo wanted to go and smash his smug face in for even bringing his mom up. Thank goodness, for Leo's reasoning skills (and yes despite what people said he did have some) and fast mind, as Leo's voice in his head told him that was what the detective wanted out him. With bated breath and fist clenched on the armrests of his chair, Leo forced himself to calm down.

"My mom's dead." He told him icily and with a steely glare.

"Something that you were the cause for." The detective tossed out casually, but leaned forward onto Mr. D's desk with a fixed stare. Leo only caught his breath for a second before sending him another glare.

"They never proved that and neither can you, so are you done here? Or are you going to keep disrespecting my deceased mother because I highly doubt the police will accept your intimidation tactics in court." Leo responded as he inched forward in his chair, not backing down either. The pale guy shrugged, before grinning again.

"I'm sorry." He didn't sound the least apologetic in Leo's ears.

"I'm just trying to understand you is all. This isn't your first time dealing with the law, Mr. Valdez. I mean your mom, you running away from foster homes, and then this. You see how this makes you look suspicious?"

"So, what?" Leo said crossing his arms, he was still fuming but he knew if he blew up now then he'd surely be in trouble.

"I don't think you understand, it makes _only_ you look suspicious."

Leo rolled his eyes again. "I'll take my chances in court… if you even have anything to charge me on."

The man only raised an eyebrow again, like he found Leo's pressure point and now it was only a matter of pokes before Leo passed out.

"You have a lot of faith in the United States Justice System Mr. Valdez, but more importantly and perhaps a little misplaced, a lot of faith in your friends."

Leo felt his arms drop to his side, as he comprehended the statement. His friends (if he could even call them that) wouldn't betray him like that, would they? They had promised that they'd all keep silent; did somebody get cold feet? No, this detective was messing with him, trying to fish for answers, but Leo wasn't going to give him any.

"Well, I'm a good person so I trust my friends." Leo felt strange using that word to describe them, but Leo tried not to show it.

"Even your friend Piper McLean?"

Leo was caught off guard. Piper was a lot of things, but she wasn't a snitch. She wouldn't tell on him or would she? _She might_, the back of Leo's mind voiced. Leo had seen the things she'd done to girls who just wore the same dress as her, if she was super angry Leo shuttered. Had Leo made her angry? They had been arguing before this morning, but Leo put it off as another one of their sibling arguments. Did Piper actually let him win only to rat on him later?

Leo shrugged it off; he'd talk to her later. It'd be worse to jump to conclusions now, than to wait it out. Leo realized that he'd been quiet for almost a full minute and a half, making it obvious that he was thinking about his statement.

"Like I said before I trust my friends, which means I also trust my_ sister._" He emphasized. The detective opened his mouth, but the cop spoke first.

"Just drop it Octavian; the kid's not going to crack." Leo had forgotten that she was even still in the room, which was surprising considering how unnerving and beautiful she was. The second thing he realized was that she had called him a kid, which made him want to reply that he wasn't one, but that would only make him look childish.

"Fine." Octavian glared at him, but Leo only rolled his eyes. I mean now that he knew his name was Octavian (seriously? Who would name their child that?) it was easy to feel less intimidated.

"But Mr. Valdez, this won't be the last you see of me. And also for your sake, you should pray for once water is thicker than blood." And with that stupid and meaningless, statement, Detective Asshole left.

Leo let out a deep sigh and muttered a good riddance, before realizing the cop was standing over him and still glaring at him.

Leo grinned, "Finally, alone at last."

"You should have answered the questions." The cop said, in a hard-edged voice that matched her face.

"What?" Leo asked surprised by her hardness. She repeated herself, glaring even harder at Leo making him super uncomfortable.

"Yeah well, he was being an asshole." Leo told her dryly. She snorted, and for a second Leo thought he could make her actually smile, but she only frowned again at him.

"He is one, but that doesn't change the fact that he's good at his job. I'd be careful if I were you, Octavian's good at uncovering lies, and more specifically secrets." She gave him a pointed look.

"Yeah well, I have no secrets. I'm an open book." Leo told her honestly. She turned away from him and stared outside Mr. D's window. The sun was starting to set, and Leo realized how long he'd been being interrogated.

"I wasn't talking about you, I meant your friends." She replied, but she wasn't looking at him, but outside. Leo couldn't tell what she was looking at, but he wanted to know.

"It doesn't matter to me. I don't have to know everything about my friends." Leo shrugged. She glanced at him in pity, like he was an animal about to be slaughtered.

"You should. You'd be surprised what people will do to keep a secret a secret or who'd they'd throw under the bus."

"None of them would do that to." Leo said. Officer Snow glanced out the window before motioning him to come over. Hesitantly he walked over to her and glanced out the window. For a minute he stood there in shock, watching his sister talk adamantly with Frank, of all people, before standing on her tiptoes and giving him a full hug around the neck, while the big guy stood awkwardly returning it. Leo didn't even think they talked to each other before the incident.

Officer Snow spoke again, "Are you sure none of them would do that? Because from where I'm looking, I think a lot of them would. And I think you're gonna be the first to be run over."


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: What?! Two chapters in one day? Sorry I felt bad for leaving y'all hanging so I wanted to give you more to read. It's not my fav chapter, but I hope you enjoy. Again, I don't PJO or HOO. **

Leo would like to say he had a nice drive home, but if he was being honest he couldn't stop replaying what the detective said in his head. _For your sake you should pray, water is thicker than blood. _ Or whatever bullshit the detective was saying. Leo tried not to worry about it, but it kept coming into his brain like an annoying song.

Maybe it wasn't so much of what the detective said, but rather what he saw afterward. Leo couldn't comprehend what Piper was doing with Frank. He had never seen them talk ever, not for school related things, popularity status, or anything, which worried Leo greatly. _Maybe they're dating_, the optimistic voice conjured in his mind. It wouldn't be the first time Piper had a secret boyfriend. But by the time he got out of the office, both had disappeared with no trace so he had no chance to ask them.

Leo hoped that Piper was home, so that could at least justify him speeding fifty miles over the speed limit. Leo was going eighty-five miles per hour in hopes of catching his sister before she disappeared into the night. As he watched the trees blur by, and swerved down the winding road, he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. Leo couldn't tell if it was from nerves or the adrenaline.

It only took Leo, seven minutes to get home, which sadly did not break his record. As he pulled up to Tristan McLean's mansion, he couldn't help but feel relieved as he saw Piper's black Benz parked on the grand driveway, right in front of the stairs. _Figures, _Leo thought as he waited for the iron gates to open, before pulling around to the backside to park his car in the garage. Unlike some people, Leo liked his car to be protected even if it meant he had to walk a few feet to get inside.

As Leo passed the empty tennis and basketball courts, he started to get anxious. He didn't know how to approach the subject. Piper was at best iffy in her moods, but more importantly he didn't want to sound ungrateful. After all they had done with taken him in and giving him a home, when he had nothing, Leo didn't want to sound like he was accusing Piper. Leo sighed as he parked his car next to Tristan's red Ferrari, before getting out of the car.

Just before stepping in the mansion, Leo prayed to whatever god that Piper was in a good mood. When Leo stepped in, the first thing Leo noticed was that the air was blasted, and heard the faint sound of music. Normally, that would alarm Leo, but with a house so big, Leo was almost used to the muffled sounds he would hear from the opposite side of the house when Piper was home.

Leo walked through huge tiled kitchen, which was empty, which was surprising considering that their chef, Chef Herald usually cooked for them on Friday nights. Leo sighed in disappointment he was actually looking forward to a "home-cooked" meal. Passing their kitchen, Leo ignored the dining room and den, and headed straight up the spiral staircase.

The music, which he recognized as Miley Cyrus, started to get louder as he trailed to the right towards, Piper's room. Leo rolled his eyes as he got closer to the her side of the house. It was obviously her side of the house as the walls turned from a plain nice cream color to being covered up by wall art and mosaic blanket rugs or whatever they were called.

As he passed all the interesting and somewhat disturbing artwork, his hands started to shake more. He tried to calm down as he approached the shut door, which had its famous quote _Fuck you, _in all caps with black spray paint. It had become a symbol and inside joke to everyone who'd been near Piper's room. Her dad Tristan hated it, but Piper threated to spray it all over the house if he took down her door, so thus it stayed.

Leo sighed as he knocked on his sister's famous door. He waited for a few seconds listening to the sound of Rihanna's voice from outside the door, and tried to calm his nerves. After Piper didn't answer, Leo tried again, this time a little louder and forceful. There was still no answer. After awhile he barged in, he figured he could apologize later.

Leo glanced around to see her room surprisingly neat and orderly. Her bed was made with her multicolored comforter, while the pale yellow canopy draped around her bed. Everything on her white desk and bookshelf was put away, and her school bag sat in her desk chair. Everything seemed to be in perfect place, the only thing missing was Piper herself.

"Hello? Piper?" Leo called out over the loud music, but got no response.

Leo paced around the room calling out Piper's name, but still only Maroon 5 answered him. Leo sighed, maybe he had missed her; maybe she just dropped her stuff off and went with one her friends. No, that couldn't be right, she would have at least turned her music off before she left. Leo checked her closet but it was empty. Leo glanced to the white door near her bed that led to her bathroom. It was closed.

As Leo crossed the room, he was about to knock on the door, to check to see if she was there, but then he heard a sentence that caught his attention.

"No! Don't come home. It's just a misunderstanding. I'm sure Jane can handle it."

_Jane?_ Leo thought. He hadn't seen Jane since the McLean's legally adopted him. She had been this thin pale lady, who was so non-sense even Leo feared making a joke around her. If Piper was planning on talking to the McLean's lawyer, what did that mean? Leo despite, knowing better, leaned his ear closer to the door.

"No! It was just a talk! It's not that serious!" Piper's voice yelled, but Leo could hear the distress in her voice. He wondered whom she was talking to, but he had a fair idea of whom it was.

"No! This is not a prank—You have nothing to be—"

Leo wished he could hear who and what was being said on the other line. He figured that nothing good was coming out of it. If it was who he thought it was, they were both totally screwed.

"Oh my god! Will you just listen to me? This isn't a prank, but it's not that serious. If it makes you feel better, I will talk to Jane tomorrow." Piper aired out. Leo couldn't help but notice the fact she had left him out of the mix, but then shook it out of his head. It was probably better that she didn't mention him; it would only end in him having a very lengthy and unpleasant conversation.

"Yeah, promise I'll talk to her tomorrow, but you have nothing to worry about, ok? You don't need to come home yet." He could almost feel how relieved Piper was from the other side of the door.

"Alright, bye, Dad. I love you too." Piper said. Leo scrambled away from the door, hurrying to her lounge area, which consisted of a big fuzzy yellow rug and blue and pink beanbags, and found her wireless speaker. Quickly, he sat down on the blue one trying to pretend he was listening intently to Nicki Minaj.

Piper opened the door of the bathroom only minute later and glanced over to him. Her eyes narrowed and Leo tried to act normally by flashing a grin.

"I knocked, but I didn't get an answer, so sorry." Leo apologized. Piper only waved him off, which was unusual of her, since she screamed anytime Leo got near her room. Her conversation with her dad was probably taking away her energy.

"Is everything, alright? You seemed distracted." Leo asked, pretending that he hadn't overheard her previous conversation. Piper sat down on her bed, and bit her lip in that nervous habit she did.

"No, it's nothing. Dad heard about the investigation and questions, he just asked if should come home is all." Piper shared. Leo looked at her and rubbed his hands awkwardly. Despite, knowing Piper and about her strained relationship for her father for six years he still had no idea how to comfort her.

"What'd you say?" Leo asked, probably stupidly, but he didn't know what else to do. He was trying the best he could. Piper drew out a long sigh.

"I told him to stay, no use of interrupting his filming schedule, when it's a minor thing. Plus if anything does come up, I'll have it handled." Leo didn't like how she phrased that: _I'll have it handled_. It made her sound sort of terrifying, like mafia type terrifying.

"What do you mean? You have it handled?"

"What's with all the questions, Valdez?" She asked glaring at him. Leo only shrugged, but didn't say anymore. He wondered if it had anything to do with Jane, but Leo wondered why Piper wouldn't mention it to him.

"Look, I have to get ready, so could you like…" Piper made a gesture to her door. That was when Leo noticed her face that was caked with makeup and her usually wavy brown hair straightened. Where ever Piper was going it must be important.

"Where are you going?" Leo questioned, he wanted to get more answers from her. Piper only sighed as she strolled to the other side of her room to her walk-in closet.

Leo followed her to her mammoth of a closet as she flicked on the lights. Leo generally had no preferences about closets or clothes, but he had to say that Piper's closet was sweet. Her closet was like a life size Barbie closet; it had racks on racks of clothes, all organized by color. Her multiple shoe racks sat lining the racks and her revolving accessories rack was in the middle of the floor, while her three way mirror sat in the back.

Leo sat in one of her two chairs as his sister scanned over her green clothes. Leo watched her hum to herself as she slowly picked out a short emerald dress that Leo had never seen before, before going over to her pink section.

"Beauty Queen, where are you going?" Leo asked again breaking the silence between them. Piper didn't say anything as she picked up a lace pink dress and scanned it intensely. At first, Leo thought she didn't hear him or was choosing to ignore him, but finally she replied.

"Out." She retorted while putting the dress back where she found it, before going to her black section. Leo rolled his eyes, it wouldn't be the first time he heard that vague answer from her, but he for some reason he had to push her; he wanted to know what was going on with her and Frank.

"With Frank?" He inquired. He didn't expect her to react so badly. Piper head shot up from the shiny black dress she held as she turned to gaze at him, her hazel eyes meeting his brown.

"What?" She choked out, eyes bugging out of her head. "What would make you even say something like that?"

Leo shrugged as he looked down at the plum carpet. He felt awkward bringing it up now as he felt his sister's eyes bore into his soul.

"After my interrogation, I saw you and Frank talking and then you gave him a hug." Leo spat out softly. He looked up into Piper's eyes and saw her glaring at him sharply.

"You were spying on me? What the hell, Leo?" She yelled at him. Leo stood up and faced her. He didn't know why but he could feel some heat and anger come back from earlier.

"No, Piper. I just happened to see you outside the window, which still doesn't answer my question. Why were you with Frank? Are you two a thing now?"

Piper scoffed and rolled her eyes, her anger seemed to dissipate as soon as it had come.

"No, we aren't dating." She said turning back to her clothes, like they deserved more attention than Leo.

"Then why—"

"It's personal, okay!" She snapped at him. Leo stood shocked for a second, before Piper realized what she'd done and glanced down.

"I'm sorry. It's just..." She sighed and looked at him, for one of the rare times he saw Piper let her guard down and relax. Leo could see the sadness and fear in her eyes.

"Hey, Beauty Queen it's alright. We'll get through this." Leo stepped towards her and gave her a hug. She hugged him back and for a few seconds Leo figured he was worried for nothing. No way his sister would sell him out.

Piper pulled away first, as Leo watched her wipe off the tears that had escaped.

"Thank you."

"Anytime, Beauty Queen." Piper rolled her eyes at the nickname, but Leo could see the small form of a grin of her beautiful face.

"You know whatever happens, I'll always have your back." He said sincerely, Piper's face erupted in a grin, as she pushed her hair out of her face.

"Me too. Whatever happens, we're in this together, right?" Piper said, which made Leo's doubt fly away. He should have known better to let some cop meddle into his life. Piper was a lot of things, and thankfully one of those things was that she was fiercely loyal to her friends. Leo smiled up at his sister, and saw sincerity in her eyes.

"Yeah, we're in it together."

"Now, that the cheesy stuff's out the way, help me pick out a dress to outshine all these bitches." Leo rolled his eyes, but smiled knowing how lucky he was to have her in his life.

**AN: Sorry a little cheesy in the end, but I can't help it. I love Leo and Piper's relationship. Anyways, hopefully you enjoyed it. Again will try to do better, Annabeth's POV is next and hope you tune in for the next chapter. **


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: GUYS I AM A TERRIBLE AWFUL PERSON FOR NOT UPDATING. I'm sorry but I had a lot of family issues going on at the time and I wasn't exactly sure where the direction for this story was going to go. I can't promise consistent updates, but I'm going to try which is why I'm gonna give two chapters at once most likely. Anyways Enjoy.**

If anyone knew Annabeth, then they knew she wasn't fully awake until she had a cup of coffee. So that's why when Clarisse, of all people, came up to her asking about what happened that weekend, she was highly irritated. As she strolled the quad to find the Starbucks, Clarisse kept up with her griping at Annabeth because had missed their annual charity decathlon. Finally after enough of Clarisse's nasty voice in her ear, she snapped.

"Ok, Clarisse sorry I forgot! Just for gods' sake! Leave me alone!"

Clarisse seemed taken back by Annabeth's sudden retort, but just as easily her snapped back.

"What's your problem, Chase? Gods, you used to be the one yelling at us to get our shit together. What happened to you?" Clarisse said gesturing to Annabeth's sloppily put-together outfit, before rolling her eyes and walking away. Annabeth just scowled as she continued in search of coffee.

As she stalked through the corridors, she seemed to turn heads. Many people hadn't seen Annabeth this sloppy, since her break up with Luke. Annabeth knew she looked terrible, her white shirt was half tucked into her skirt, her navy and yellow tie hung loose around her neck, and her socks were mix-matched, one navy and the other black. Although, her dress attire wasn't up to it's usually par, it was probably her face that had people staring. In truth, she hadn't been sleeping well; she would always wake up in the middle of the night from a nightmare or even just replaying events in her head.

Thus because of her lack of sleep, she was pale and starting to have dark circles under her eyes. Plus, because she woke up later than planned, she had forgotten to do something with her massive curly hair, so now it fell in a massive curly mess to the middle of her back.

As she finally got her usual straight black coffee from Starbucks, she ignored the stares of her peers and went to her locker. Of course, like always her best friend Reyna stood there glancing, (more like glaring) with that hard stare of hers at passing students.

"Hey." Annabeth sighed as moved around her friend to get to her locker. Reyna raised an eyebrow and turned to her.

"What happened to you?" She questioned. Annabeth rummaged through her locker finding a stray rubber band and pulled her hair into a ponytail.

"More like what didn't happen to me. I woke up late, which threw off my schedule."

"Are you sure it just threw you off schedule? You look like you've been run over a few times too."

"Thanks, just the compliment I wanted to hear." Annabeth said as she continued rummaging through her undecorated locker and put her government book into her shoulder bag.

"That's what friends are for." Reyna responded smirking at her. Annabeth rolled her eyes at her best friend; she swore she needed nicer friends sometimes. Annabeth looked through her locker again for her English notebook before throwing it in her bag as well.

"This might sound like a weird question, but do you have any extra socks?" Annabeth voiced to Reyna. Reyna only smirked more, with her signature face before responding.

"Didn't think I needed to bring extra socks, so no I don't have any. You could always go the school store." Reyna said, which wasn't much help since that was in the Aphrodite's Boutique, which was across the street from campus.

No way could she make it in time for first period if she went now. Annabeth groaned, while closing her locker.

"On a scale from one to ten, how bad is it?" She asked, turning to her friend. Reyna glanced her up and down before taking out Annabeth's shirt that was tucked in and tightening her tie.

"Now, you look like a decent six. Let's just hope no one looks at your feet too much." Reyna said before looping her arm through hers as they headed off to class. On the way there, they were silent, as people generally parted as they walked the halls. Although, this time Annabeth could easily see them staring and whispering about her.

"I wish they'd just take a picture." Annabeth muttered to herself, but Reyna heard her.

"I mean I can't blame them, you haven't looked this bad since Luke." Reyna said. She was the only one who could say his name around her fully, even Thalia couldn't do it, but it was probably because she had a close connection with him.

"I mean is everything okay?" Reyna's voice cut through Annabeth's thought.

"Uh—yeah. Everything's fine." She lied.

"Don't lie to me Chase. This is the second time in a row that you've skipped our Friday sleepovers, which has never happened before."

"Is this your way of telling me, you miss me?" Annabeth joked as they stopped next to her history class, many of the students brushing past them to get through the door.

"No, this is my way of telling you I'm concerned about you." Reyna said her brown almost black eyes gazing intensely on her. Annabeth found it hard to stay focused on her hard face.

"Well, you have nothing to be worried about. I'm fine." Annabeth tried to say as convincingly as possible. She didn't know if it worked as Reyna studied her for seconds too long. Finally, Reyna glanced down and smirked.

"You look ridiculous with those socks on. We can swing by the boutique during lunch."

"Thanks, Reyna. I've been so stressed lately, to the point of distraction. I swear this is not a new thing with me."

"Yeah well, I really hope not Chase." Reyna said giving her pointed look, and turning away to get to her class.

All through Annabeth's classes people stared at her like she had risen from the grave. Even her third period teacher stared at her all throughout class (which in Annabeth's opinion was super rude). Though if Annabeth was being fair, she did look a little zombie like. Still it was unnerving, she felt like she was an animal at a zoo, while they watched on.

So, when her fourth period ended she practically bolted out of Mr. Smith's English class. As she hurried down the stairs and towards the parking lot, she felt more of her classmates turn their attention to her. Although, she was sure it was more because she was practically running towards the parking lot.

"Slow down, Chase." A voice commanded her. Annabeth whipped around to find Reyna again. Somehow, through all the rushing students going to the parking lot her friend had spotted her, and now was strolling up to her confidently. Annabeth wondered if she ever looked like that when she walked, but clearly shook the thought out of her head.

"I thought you didn't want to draw attention to yourself?" Reyna asked catching up to her.

"I don't." Annabeth said as she frowned. Reyna looped her arm in Annabeth's again as they continued to walk across the parking lot.

"Then I suggest you don't run around looking like a crazy person." Reyna said to her as casually as she could. Annabeth glanced over at her friend, who was slightly taller than her. Reyna wasn't even looking at her as she kept her eyes ahead at the extremely nice cars going through.

Annabeth thought about saying something, but thought better of it. She didn't want to ruin the silence. Finally they crossed the street and headed into the huge boutique.

Even before she got into the boutique she knew that she was going to get a headache. Annabeth hated shopping and generally only went shopping twice a year. She hated the crowds, the generic pop music that played loudly throughout the store, and most of all she hated the passive aggressive workers who gave her fake smiles.

Aphrodite's boutique was no different from any other store, except for the fact that it was the only store in the area that sold their uniforms. Annabeth and Reyna quickly glanced around the first floor. Thankfully, it wasn't too busy only a few students milling around and browsing the more of the casual section, such as the t-shirts, school supplies, and water bottles.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, as she saw Connor Stoll trying to inconspicuously put t-shirts in his backpack, while his brother Travis distracted Mrs. Beauregard who owned the store.

"Hi, may I help you?" A chipper voice came into Annabeth's hearing zone, one that Annabeth hadn't heard since last spring. Annabeth turned around to the slender person in front of her and was faced with one of the most beautiful girls in the world.

Annabeth still remembered her the same, beautiful enchanting blue eyes, tall as a model and a face to match it. However she had changed her hair color again to a honey blonde and had cut it into a bob that fell at her shoulders. Also she was much tanner, Annabeth guessed because of the California sun.

"Hey Reyna!" She greeted her with a dazzling smile, before turning towards Annabeth.

"Annabeth? I almost didn't recognize you. You look..." Blue eyes glanced her over before finishing her statement. "You look terrible. Are you feeling ok?"

Annabeth counted to three before responding to the girl, "Hey Silena, how are you?"

"I've been better. But wow, what happened? You know what? Never mind. I can just get you fixed up in no time."

"Actually, Silena we don't really have time for a full make-over. We're just here for some socks." Reyna voiced next to her, which Annabeth was grateful for. Annabeth knew that Silena was a nice girl, but she was very girly and tended to get really excited and carried away when it came to makeup and fashion. She always seemed to look put together and absolutely stunning no matter what she was wearing. Maybe that was why she was such the it-girl all through her years at Mt. Olympus.

"Oh. What a shame." She sounded heart broken as she glanced at Annabeth's outfit again. Annabeth and Reyna turned around and went deeper into the store, surprisingly Silena followed.

"How's college? How's Beckendorf?" Annabeth asked to lighten the mood. Silena immediately perked up. "Charlie's fine, we're good. Although it is kind of hard being so far away from him with him at Stanford."

Annabeth frowned, "Isn't that only a five hour drive from L.A.?" She asked.

"Actually it's five hours and twenty-two minutes, still it's too long, but if I get a flight it's almost like a waste of money." Silena complained to her. Annabeth glanced over to Reyna and they shared the same look, but didn't say anything else about it.

Thus making Silena talk about her life at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, (FIDM). After explaining that she had switched her major to Beauty Industry Management (Annabeth wasn't even sure what that was), she only half listened to what Silena was saying. After awhile Annabeth suspected that Silena was only talking to fill the silence.

"…so yeah I'm here for spring break, Daddy wanted me home, so here I am. Sadly, my mom brought me here today, and told me to work, I swear she's so demanding sometimes."

Thankfully, once they got to the back of the store they found the bin of socks Silena quieted. Annabeth was so grateful as she was about two seconds from telling Silena to put a sock in it. Annabeth started to fish in the bin, since the socks on top all had crazy patterns on them.

"So what's the hottest gossip at Mt. Olympus? I heard about Mr. K, isn't that so strange? What do you think happened to him?" Silena asked them.

Annabeth stopped fishing for a moment and felt herself reeling in the past. She felt the nightmares coming back and the horrible intense feeling of her wanted to yack all over the sock bin.

"Annabeth are you ok? You look nauseous." Reyna's voice came to her. Annabeth made a slight nod, telling her that she was okay. Although she knew that she was definitely not okay. Annabeth told herself to snap out of it and steadied herself against the sock bin.

Out the corner of her eye, Annabeth could see Reyna's concerned face. Thankfully, Silena came to her rescue as she switched to a new topic.

"So Reyna, are you and Jason finally dating yet?"

Annabeth saw Reyna scowl, but as fierce as she looked, she couldn't help the blush that came on her tan cheekbones. Annabeth started smirking.

Try as Reyna might deny it, almost everyone knew that Reyna and Jason had feelings for each other since middle school. Both too stubborn to admit about them, and because of both their fierce natures it was rarely brought up. But when it was, Annabeth had to tease Reyna about it.

"Guys I told you before, I don't like Jason. We're _just_ friends." She said stressing the 'friends" part.

" Yeah but you want to be more than just friends, right?" Silena asked smiling at Reyna and raising one eyebrow inquisitively. If it was even possible, Reyna scowled harder and became redder.

"Yeah, Rey I'm with Silena, what's taking you so long to go out with Jason anyway?" You practically spend most of your free time anyway with him with student council, track, and Latin Club." Annabeth interjected.

Reyna glared daggers at her, but it didn't faze Annabeth.

"I already told you, I don't like Jason like _that_."

"It's not like you'd have to go out of your way. You've only got five months before we go off to college." Annabeth added casually.

"Chase I swear… Just find your stupid socks," Reyna hissed. Annabeth snickered but went back to digging.

"Reyna, she does have a point." Silena added. "Five months will fly by before you know it." Reyna turned to glare at Silena, but Silena only became more amused.

"If you want I can ask him out for you."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Oh! Look! There he is now." Silena said grinning, like she knew this whole time Jason was in the store, which most likely she did.

And just like that Jason Grace was there, descending down the stairs from the second floor, looking like the All-American boy he was. He was with some of his track buddies; some guys Annabeth had no interest in learning their names.

"Hey Jason!" Silena called from where the three of them stood. She smirked her ruby red lips at Reyna, as she beckoned Jason over. Reyna only frowned, but Annabeth could see the slight panic in her eyes. Jason waved goodbye to his friends and came over in only four strides due to his long legs.

"Hey, Annabeth. Hi Rey." Jason smiled down at her softly, which Reyna being Reyna only rolled her eyes at, but Annabeth could see the slight curve on her lips. Noticing that Annabeth was staring and Silena smirking at her, Reyna rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Hi Jason, Goodbye Jason. It was nice to see you Silena." Although Reyna didn't seem so pleased about bumping into her, "I'll see you next period Chase." And with that Reyna practically stormed out, not even looking back at them.

Jason looked perplexed at the spot that Reyna had been standing in before turning towards Silena. He probably realized that he hadn't greeted her yet.

"Hey Silena, I didn't know you were back from school."

"Only for the week, I'm on break." She explained to him.

"That's good. How's college? How's Beck?" He asked. Silena shrugged.

"College is fine." She responded. Annabeth wished she had gotten the short response.

"And Charlie's just wonderful. I mean it's just so nice to have someone love me the way he does. Do you ever think you could ever love a girl like that, Jason?" Silena asked as she glanced toward the door where Reyna had left. Jason blushed deeply. Annabeth tried not to snicker at the expression on his face. Too quickly though Jason composed himself and turned to her.

"So…um Annabeth, what are you doing here? You hate shopping." Jason said ignoring Silena now that she had significantly embarrassed him.

"Oh just looking for some socks." Annabeth said casually. Jason raised an eyebrow at her, since he couldn't see her feet from the position he was standing in.

"Don't ask." She told him as she found a pair of plain navy socks.

"Yeah it's better you don't ask, it's tragic what she has on now." Silena interjected. Annabeth only rolled her eyes at the girl's comment, but said no more.

"Speaking of tragic, did my OTP break up?" Silena asked dramatically.

"What?" Annabeth only understood have of that sentence.

"Perlypso? Did they break up?" Silena seemed to be going hysterical. Annabeth glanced at Jason for information, but he seemed just as confused as she was.

"Percy and Calypso? Did they break up? I need to know!"

"Oh. No they didn't." Annabeth answered. As far she knew they were fine, not that she kept up with them or anything.

"Then why are they flirting like nobody's business?"

Annabeth looked over to where Silena was glancing. There kind of hidden from plain sight were Percy and Piper, which was shocking to say the least. What was even more shocking was that Silena was right, they did seem like they were flirting.

Piper was standing awfully close to Percy and she had a hand on his bicep and was laughing at something he said. Percy was smirking down at her, with that annoying smile of his and then whispered something into her ear.

Annabeth was confused, she didn't get why these two of all people were here, shamelessly flirting with each other, especially when one of those people had a girlfriend. As far as Annabeth knew, they didn't even talk to each other before the accident, and even when they did they didn't actually get along from what Annabeth witnessed.

Therefore they had to be plotting something, Annabeth didn't trust those two before but now Annabeth had a right to be suspicious. Jason must have had the same thoughts as they both shared a look.

"Um, Silena how much for the socks?" Annabeth asked, still keeping her eye on the pair.

"Oh just take them." She waved off.

"Alright, thanks Silena, but we gotta go." Annabeth practically called over her shoulder as Jason and her bolted out the door.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: OH sorry I know you want the story. Just quick thing. I want to know where you stand on the whole Jeyna/Jiper thing. Personally I think Reyna's too good for anyone, but I'm not sure if I want to incorporate both ships or just Jeyna, so let me know your thoughts please. Okay now enjoy. **

"What was that?" Annabeth practically hissed at Jason. She turned around to face him, which was pretty hard considering they were sitting in his car. She crossed her arms as Jason shrugged.

"Maybe they were truly _just_ flirting Annabeth? Who knows maybe Calypso and Percy actually did break up and Percy's just going for the rebound."

"Ok, even if that was the case, which I'm sure it isn't. Why Piper? I mean why her?" Annabeth felt herself scowling. Jason only shrugged again.

"Well…Piper's pretty hot if you get past the attitude. And the rumors that circulate her tend to be true." Jason supplied nonchalantly. Annabeth turned her glared towards him, and he blushed under her gaze.

"What I meant to say was… maybe Percy is just trying to hook up with her. I don't know."

Annabeth tried to think though. There was no way that could be true, even if Calypso and Percy had broken up for good, Percy didn't seem like he would go for Piper's type and Piper, well honestly Annabeth had no idea what Piper would go for. The girl changed personalities and interests like the wind; maybe that's why Annabeth stayed clear from her all these years. Apparently that was going to change now.

"Or they could be trying to form an alliance, either way Jason we have to keep an eye on them."

Jason looked bewildered, which Annabeth was getting a lot of that expression from everybody today and she was kind of tired of it.

"Annabeth, I think you're being paranoid."

"Maybe I am, but think about it, wouldn't you want to know if something was going on, rather than being blind-sided? I mean think about it, if they are forming alliance it will be four of them, and just us Jason."

"So, what are you saying? We need to go befriend Hazel and Frank? Even if we do get them on our side, what it'll just be four against four and then what? I thought we were supposed to all be in this together."

"Calm down this isn't high school musical, not everyone is going to stick to the plan. I'm trying to think. First things first, we need to find out what Percy and Piper are up to and if Percy and Calypso actually broke up. Secondly, we need to talk to Hazel and Frank, get them on our side. And then we fish out anything else we can find out about the others." Annabeth thought strategically, one her many skills.

"Okay and how do you suppose we do that? We can't just follow Percy and Piper around with binoculars."

"Don't you know the expression, keep your friends close and your enemies closer, Jason. We need to get them to trust us." Annabeth mind was in overdrive thinking and she felt ten times better than she had earlier today. Thinking logically and making plans was her domain. She felt back in control.

"I don't know Annabeth, trust is hard to earn, but very easily broken. To play with someone emotions and feelings like that. I don't know if I can do that."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. She was extremely getting annoyed with Jason's constant disagreement with her. If she didn't need him as much, she would of told him to forget all about it. But she needed to know what was going on, her future life was at stake.

"Jason, are you in or out?" Annabeth questioned looking directly into his blue eyes. Jason rubbed his neck and did a long sigh.

"Fine, I'm in but I call dibs on keeping an eye on Piper." He said. Annabeth scowled, while Jason looked smug at her.

"Fine, but while you're at it you need to talk to Hazel."

"But Hazel hates me! She won't even look at me without glaring!" Jason shrieked.

"Exactly, you need to clear the air. Whatever happened between you, her, and Nico, you need to work it out." Jason flinched at the name of his best friend or ex-best friend.

Annabeth knew the feeling, the guilt that always hung around like a ghost when someone brought up a trigger. For Annabeth it was Luke, for Jason it was Nico. As Annabeth could figure from her eighteen years of living, everyone had a trigger, something that could shut them down completely if used incorrectly. Now it was Annabeth's job to figure out what each person's was. Annabeth wasn't sure how she would use it, but she'd find out soon enough because now she had a plan.

"Jason, it'll be fine just stick to plan and it'll be fine ok?" Jason nodded weakly. Annabeth hoped he'd be okay, but she could tell he was having a hard time composing himself, so she figure it'd be best to leave him be. Plus she still hadn't eaten lunch yet and they had ten minutes left of it. But lunch could wait; she had to go find Percy Jackson.

* * *

Turns out Annabeth didn't see him until seventh period. She saw him milling around the front of the Ares training center, doing nothing in particular. He kept fiddling with something in his pocket and kept his head down looking at his black converse. Annabeth figured he was waiting for Calypso to get out of track practice, but considering they didn't get out until six in the evening today, Annabeth had no idea why he would be there. He could technically go home and come back, but maybe he just had nothing better to do.

Usually Annabeth spent her seventh period in the library to do her homework, even though she could technically go home. She just liked doing it there at school because there were fewer distractions, plus if she needed help with something (which wasn't often) the teachers were there to help and she didn't have to wait. Unfortunately, today's homework was going to have to wait as she took a deep breath before heading over to the raven-haired boy.

"Hi." Annabeth said to him. Percy barely glanced her way as he muttered a hello back. He seemed very distracted as he kept fiddling with his pocket and constantly running his hand through his thick hair.

Annabeth hadn't expected this. She expected a cocky and arrogant response, not to be ignored because he was too deep in his own thoughts. Annabeth tried to think up a conversation.

"So, are you waiting for Calypso?" She asked. Annabeth noticed his posture stiffen as he paused for a second.

"No, I'm not." He practically hissed at her. So maybe they had broken up. Even if they hadn't, his response was an indication that they were not on good terms at the moment. Annabeth knew she was headed into dangerous territory, but she needed to press for answers.

"Oh. What happened?" Annabeth asked. However as soon as she asked the question, she immediately regretted asking. Percy's head drew up almost mechanically, but there was nothing automatic about the anger swirling in his eyes. He took a step forward to her, which made Annabeth take a step back in fear.

"If it was any of your business, I would have told you." He sneered at her. Annabeth only nodded mutely. She hated to admit it, but Percy was kind of being terrifying and it made her more than a little scared that no one would be here to witness if he hurt her. However, they good news was that Annabeth had found his trigger. Ironically it would be his girlfriend. Or was it ex-girlfriend? Annabeth decided that it had to be the latter.

"Sorry." Came a softer voice. Annabeth looked up to see Percy had backed away from her now, although he still wasn't paying attention to her and focused back onto his shoes.

"I'm waiting for Coach Hedge, he said he needed to speak with me." Percy pursed his lips like he knew what the conversation was going to be about and wasn't looking forward to it. Annabeth was still stunned by the fierceness of their interaction, and now that Percy was calmer she still didn't know what to do.

"Um…ok. I'm waiting for Jason." She felt herself responding. Percy only nodded in thought.

"Are you and Jason like a thing?" He questioned. Annabeth almost wanted to roll her eyes at the question. Instead she forced out a laugh.

"No, Jason's more like a brother to me. Besides he's got a thing for Reyna." Annabeth blurted before covering her mouth. Percy glanced in her direction and raised an eyebrow. He smirked.

"Reyna, you say? Tall, black hair, resting bitch face Reyna?" He asked. Annabeth frowned, why had she just told Percy that? Jason was going to have her head, if he found out that she told Percy that. Percy didn't think much of it though as he shrugged.

"I guess she's pretty. Seems like she takes things too seriously though."

Annabeth frowned harder, but she didn't say anything about it. Instead she was going to get to the bottom of the Percy and Piper situation.

"You know who else is pretty, Piper." Annabeth gazed at Percy to check for a reaction. Percy didn't do much except shrug, which was not very helpful for Annabeth.

"I guess. Seems pretty spoiled to me."

"Aren't we all?" Annabeth muttered as she crossed her arms. Percy heard it though and chucked a little bit.

"I guess you have a point."

For a few seconds they stood in comfortable silence. Annabeth checked her phone they still had thirty minutes left for seventh period, technically Jason was going to stay until the end of track practice, but Annabeth figured she could slip through the crowd of students without Percy noticing.

While Annabeth checked her phone, she felt Percy's gaze on her. She huffed and turned to him.

"What?"

He shook his head and muttered nothing.

"No, what is it?" She glared at him, but it didn't seem to deter him. All he did was smirk back at her.

"Nothing, just you look like shit. What happened to Miss Polished Princess?" He inquired smugly. Annabeth glared back up at him and grit her teeth.

"Excuse you? Mr. I'm-so-rude-to everyone, I've been dealing with a lot lately and I don't need you judging me or how I look!" Annabeth yelled at him. Annabeth was usually more calm and collected, but she was having a bad day already and she didn't need this jerk ruining it anymore.

Percy seemed taken back by her yelling, and then put a hand on her shoulder.

"Annabeth are you okay?" He seemed genuinely concerned for her wellbeing. He probably thought she was loosing it. Annabeth simply scowled and shrugged his hand off her shoulder.

"I'm fine. I don't need your pity or sympathy." She snapped at him.

"Fine." Percy raised his hands in surrender. "I'm sorry I asked."

"It's fine, I'm sorry I snapped at you. I'm just so exhausted." Annabeth found herself surprisingly sharing to him as she rubbed her face and pushed the stray hairs out of her face.

"Makes sense. Have you been having nightmares too?" Percy whispered. He glanced around nervously, but no one was around, everyone was probably inside of the training center. Then he fixed his green eyes on Annabeth, waiting for a response.

Annabeth nodded.

"Yeah, I've been getting nightmares. It's mostly the same thing. Him falling from the window, me replaying things in my head to see if there was anything I could of done differently…" Annabeth trailed off. She was about to mention Luke and the nightmares with him, but she thought better of it. The last thing she needed was Percy inside her head with knowledge of her worst fears.

For awhile, Percy didn't say anything. To Annabeth surprise, it helped. She just needed someone to listen, someone to understand, not anyone to try and help her find a solution to her problem or try to relate. Annabeth felt more relaxed now that someone knew what she was going through.

"What are your plans for this weekend?" Percy broke the silence. Annabeth glanced over to him.

"What?"

Percy repeated the question slower. Annabeth shrugged.

"I have Reyna and I's sleepover on Friday and then studying for AP Exams—" Annabeth supplied, before Percy started fake snoring.

"I'm sorry were you done?"

"Excuse you?" Annabeth retorted to him.

"You're life sounds so boring, so planned." Percy responded to her. Annabeth opened her mouth to respond, that she actually enjoyed plans, but Percy beat her to the punch.

"Come to New York with me this weekend." He blurted. Annabeth stared at him and he seemed to become flustered and ran his hand through his hair again.

"I mean…I have an extra ticket to go see Imagine Dragons, since Calypso can't come, maybe you would like to?" Percy finished nervously making it sound like a question.

Annabeth still gaped at him, it wasn't that she wasn't flattered and plus she loved Imagine Dragons, but the idea of spending a whole weekend away, alone with Percy Jackson, made her more than anxious. She realized that Percy was still rambling at her.

"I mean it wouldn't be like a date or anything and I know it's weird to ask you now, especially since we didn't get along before, but consider it like a peace offering. Although I don't want to force you, it's cool if you don't want—"

"Percy." Annabeth cut him off, he looked down and Annabeth could see the blush on his cheeks. For a minute Annabeth thought, he looked cute, but she quickly shook the thought out of her head.

"Thank you for the invitation, but first off I don't know if my uncle will even let me go. And then Reyna's sleepover, she'll kill me if I miss another one of those. Plus where would we stay? And how are we getting there? And I've got a major project to do for Economics. I just don't know…"Annabeth bit her lip as she trailed off. Not to mention, that she did not want to get on Calypso's bad side by going out with her ex. Annabeth didn't want to be in any more drama than necessary.

"Oh, okay. Well if you change your mind, let me know by Wednesday. It'd be cool for you to come." Percy said, as the bell for school rang and students poured out onto the quad to head home. Some people brushed by them as they were leaving gym from the training center and they gave them some weird looks, probably wondering why the two most opposite people in the world were talking to one another. Annabeth just rolled her eyes at them.

"Well, I should get inside to talk to Coach. I'll see you later, just text me to let me know." He said as he started towards the door.

"Hey, Percy actually I'm in. I'll ask my uncle, but I'll come with you." Annabeth blurted out before she could stop herself. Percy turned around and grinned at her before waving a goodbye. Annabeth felt good for a moment and then sick, was she really going to do this? Go all the way to another state with a guy she could barely stand? Of course she was, because she had to stick to the plan and there was no other better way to show trust than going off to some far off place alone.


End file.
